Don't Think Twice

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

"Anyone from the industry shows up, you turn into a one-man audition tape!" That's a hilarious quote from Mike Birbiglia in Don't Think Twice, one of the year's funniest & best films. Birbiglia plays Miles, a member of an improv comedy group named The Commune. Also in the group are: couple Jack (played by Keegan-Michael Key) & Samantha (played by Gillian Jacobs); graphic novelist Allison (played by Kate Micucci); struggling writer Bill (played by Chris Gethard); & unemployed-yet-wealthy Lindsay (played by Tami Sagher). They perform at a theater in Brooklyn, which is about to close. Miles previously taught most of them in improv classes, yet is upset that many of his students are now extremely successful. They all want to be on or work for Weekend Live, a SNL-type show. Eventually, Jack auditions for Weekend Live, & gets cast on the show, causing the group to unravel & their friendships to deteriorate.

The cast is spectacular. Birbiglia's direction & screenplay are both excellent, creating an honestly real atmosphere. This is definitely one of the year's best films, & the best independent film of the year so far.

(On a side note, I must address the rating this film received. The film was rated R for language & drug use. By language, I mean 9 uses of the F-word, & by drug use, I mean brief instances of adults smoking pot. Those things should definitely not mean an R rating. Those are things that are said & done in real life. There's no violence, no sex or nudity, just language & drug use. Yet, films like Suicide Squad get a PG-13 rating where you see numerous instances of violence. This is outrageous where a film can get an R rating for saying the F-word more than 4 times, yet a film can get a PG-13 for being extremely violent. There's something definitely wrong with the MPAA. And it needs to be stopped).