It’s official. Jim Hosking is a one-hit surprise.
And that “hit,” on paper, was a trainwreck.
Sure, that’s “The Greasy Strangler,” a impolite, sexually-explicit slice of Napoleon Dynamite twee that wallowed in absurdity and, “I can’t consider they only confirmed that” shock worth.
This critic loathed it earlier than he cherished it, and don’t get me began on its splendidly wacky soundtrack. However Hosking’s follow-up, “An Night with Beverly Luff Linn,” proved deflating. Then once more, what might observe “The Greasy Strangler,” proper?
Now, he delivers “Ebony & Ivory,” a movie purporting to point out how Paul McCartney and Stevie Surprise recorded that treacly 1982 hit.
Type of. Possibly. Not even shut.
That union provides Hosking an excuse to crank out much more delirious anti-comedy – awkward silences, repetitive phrases and infinite frontal nudity. One phallic prop might require its personal trailer.
It places viewers to the final word check. Are you able to sit by 80-plus minutes of this?
Would anybody even wish to?
“Greasy Strangler” alum Sky Elobar stars as the lovable ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney. The rocker invitations fellow celebrity Stevie Surprise (Gil Gex) to a distant Scottish Cottage on The Mull Of Kintyre, presumably to file a tribute to racial therapeutic.
You already know the tune. Chances are high Hosking loathes it, and he’s not alone.
Ebony and ivory reside collectively in excellent concord
Facet by aspect on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don’t we?
Not Macca’s best hour. Besides there’s little about their dialog, or the plot, that hinges on that observe. Or music. Or something you’d half count on from such a collaboration.
As a substitute, we’re handled to bare walks on the seaside, infinite conversations about breaded vegetarian meals and sizzling chocolate.
If that’s a spoiler alert, so be it.
The movie ought to have price as a lot as a visit to Costco. The setting is restricted to Macca’s [rental?] property, and the motion not often leaves this tiny hamlet.
Elobar’s efficiency under no circumstances makes an attempt to channel Macca. He provides just a few “mates” on the finish of his sentences and infrequently does that McCartney head shake.
Gex’s Surprise impression is even much less genuine. And that’s positive. This isn’t a historic biopic. It’s comical to see two actors not even break a sweat recreating the music icons.
Ha ha. No, actually.
That’s the place the grins begin and principally cease.
LIVE Thursday!
Sky Elobar and Gil Gex of Ebony & Ivory return to the podcast to speak their new movie from Jim Hosking of The Greasy Strangler!https://t.co/S398YQC7Bu pic.twitter.com/noDCUXP4AJ— With out Your Head Horror Podcast (@WithoutYourHead) August 4, 2025
The curious soundtrack tries to boost what’s seen on display however can solely achieve this a lot. Elobar and Gex are recreation and totally dedicated to the method, however so what? There’s nothing intelligent, or participating within the screenplay, simply absurdist banter that by no means elevates past its continual weirdness.
Why was “The Greasy Strangler” oddly intoxicating and “Ebony & Ivory” an endurance check? The previous had a semblance of story along with wacko visuals and comedian flights of fancy. Oh, and that wonk-wonk, bizarro soundtrack.
Intoxicating.
“Ebony & Ivory” appears like somebody watched that movie and copied its tics. Bizarre. Stunning. Vulgar. Foolish. Cramped. Extreme.
Moronic.
Director Wes Anderson is changing into a parody of his artistic self after a dozen movies. Hosking reached this doubtful stage in simply three.
A fast observe: “Ebony & Ivory” is so distinctly off-putting that it could be revisited as a cult “basic.” Rely on it, truly. It nonetheless isn’t inside shouting distance of “good” in any conventional sense.
HiT or Miss: “Ebony & Ivory” reveals the bounds of quirky director Jim Hosking’s model of comedian chaos.
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