After the deeply eccentric singularity of “Computer Chess,” Austin-based screenwriter-director Andrew Bujalski returns to reshaping the relationship comedy with the splendid “Results.” How could he top that haphazard-seeming, cunningly constructed bacchanalia of oddity? By returning to the genre he seems born to work in: comedies of miscommunication, dislocation, and money. (Men and women and the shaggy-dog dance.) Newly rich, out-of-shape and wholeheartedly depressed Danny (Kevin Corrigan) happens into an unlikely romantic triangle at the local gym, owned by guru-wannabe Trevor (Guy Pearce), whose passions include trainer Kat (Cobie Smulders), a former flame. Bujalski’s wit remains devilishly dry, and his portrait of three very prickly souls who can monkey up almost any interaction is sly, lovingly structured yet still unswervingly funny. Bujalski’s great gift is making stories that appear offhand, even shambling, but are as classically shaped as any being made today. The performances bear their own grace and wit, especially Corrigan, who could not put a frame wrong if he tried. With Giovanni Ribisi, Brooklyn Decker and a very funny Anthony Michael Hall. 105m. (Ray Pride)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
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