Director: Matt Walsh
MPAA Rating: R
FilmPulse Score: 6/10
High Road is a completely improvised comedy debut from veteran comedic actor, now turned director Matt Walsh. When it comes to improvised comedy, Walsh knows what he is doing, he might be best known for the Upright Citizens Brigade along with Amy Poehler, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts or for being in pretty much every comedy movie within the last 5 years. His feature film debut does not disappoint, it has a great cast of comedic actors (including Abby Elliott, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, Matt L. Jones, Joe Lo Truglio, Horatio Sanz and more) that do such an amazing job of improvising, that if you didn’t know that it was improvised, you wouldn’t be able to tell from watching the movie.
Fitz (James Pumphrey) finds out that everyone in his band, Tor Eagle, is quitting, leaving him with dealing pot and his inane theory of triangles. He likens his bandmates, played by Matt L. Jones and Zach Woods, quitting to that of Dr. Conrad Murray killing Michael Jackson. Fitz finds himself hanging out with his sixteen year old neighbor Jimmy (Dylan O’Brien) while selling pot out of his garage, telling all of his customers and anyone else really, about his triangle theory. He’s even working on a rock opera about the triangle theory!
When a drug deal goes awry, Fitz believes that the cops are after him, forcing him to return to his house to get rid of all his weed. Which is a quite a large quantity, strategically placed throughout the house, unbeknownst to his girlfriend (Abby Elliott). Meanwhile, Jimmy is finding out that his father (Rob Riggle) is threatening to send him to military school. They end up meeting in Fitz’s driveway where Jimmy lies and says that his father is abusive, prompting Fitz to knock out Jimmy’s father with a cowbell. Jimmy and Fitz are then on their way to Oakland, to meet up with Fitz’s estranged father and Jimmy’s non-existent mother.
Jimmy’s father enlists the help of Officer Fogerty, played brilliantly by Joe Lo Truglio, who really isn’t a cop, but he did graduate from the academy. Thinking that Jimmy’s been kidnapped and Fogerty believing that Jimmy doesn’t have that much time because of the “kill zone”, that window of time where Jimmy could be, being tortured, murdered or raped. So with Fogerty’s gun safely tucked into the elastic band of his sweatpants, he and Jimmy’s father hit the road to track down Fitz and Jimmy.
High Road isn’t so much about the plot, but more about the hilarious, improvised exchanges between the film’s characters. The chemistry between Rob Riggle and Joe Lo Truglio is great, along with the banter between the two and their dealings with Fitz’s friends along the way. In one scene, involving Riggle, Lo Truglio, Jones and Lizzy Caplan, Officer Fogerty showcases his extentsive knowledge of Gary Glitter’s legal troubles all over Southeast Asia.
Walsh’s debut is definitely not going to be considered a comedy classic, but it does have the chance to be a cult hit. Walsh himself even admitted, that this movie was “a low-budget passion project…but it’s also an experiment that turned out better than I thought.” He later added, “The hope is, knock on wood, that it gets a little cult following, because I think people will be surprised about who’s in it, and how funny it is. That’s my hope. ” I’m also excited about the commentary that’s going to be on the DVD, I can’t say when the last time that has happened. If you are a fan of improvised comedy, than High Road is definitely worth checking out and I have a feeling that Walsh’s hope will be realized.
