Feeling a calling, Charlie Murray (Raylene Harewood) wants nothing more than to become a successful stand-up comic. Turns out, that’s not easy, but she’s no quitter, wanting to fulfill a sort of bond she had with her deceased dad. Up on stage that first time though, she gets what every comic dreads most, a loud heckler. He’s Bob Carpenter (Brian Markinson), a former headliner who blew his own chance for fame. Now Charlie, fumbling though life as a checkout girl – and possible serious health issues – recruits the sour and dour Bob for some tips. Can dreams come true?
Director Shannon Kohli‘s comedy/drama All Joking Aside is a fairly routine effort with a somewhat earnest script that doesn’t try all that hard to be original but at least delivers what it promises. That’s faint praise, I know, but I don’t think a movie like this is meant to be anything more than a predictable one-off, not aiming to offer any challenges but make a guarantee to its audience, especially one weened on rote situational episodic television, that you’ll know what you’re getting.
Certainly, Charlie is a likable character, and of course, we can identify with the lofty dreams and realization that what she wants and what she can do don’t always align. Her father loved to tell jokes, and even wrote them in a journal, so you know, gotta keep it going. And so, Charlie is funny but lacks the training and timing to get it right where it counts. She needs help. Then there’s Bob, a cynic with a bad history, making wrong choices and living in a shadow where penance is due. That comes in the form of Charlie, whom he soon takes under his wing.
Thing is, it’s all mostly paper thin, pressed from so many other stories before, and sure, there’s nothing new under the entertainment sun but it’s hard to find anything to take away from this beyond the expected. I do like the Bob character, and while his path through this is transparent, there is lot about him worth unpacking, with Markinson channeling a few well-know comics in his performance. Indeed, there are a few particularly good moments wrung from that.
All Joking Aside is a completely innocuous little film with some solid work on both sides of the camera, making itself an easy watch or time filler. And strangely, I think I would have liked this more if it were an episodic television show, with more time to let these characters grow in a community filled with troubled and off-beat comics and recurring audience members. As a film though, it’s a pleasant if somewhat fulfilling bit of comedy and drama that lands like a safe punchline you’ve heard plenty of times before.