Freddy's 31 Days of Horror Day 3: Marjane Satrapi's The Voices
This is a crazy amalgam of different talent behind a genre flick as weird that's all over the place but fun as hell. You've got Adi Shankar on producing duty who produced Dredd. Michael R Perry writing the script, mostly known for his television work in science fiction and writing duties on Paranormal Activity 2. Finally steering this boat of insanity is Marjane Satrapi who brought her graphic novel Persopolis into an animated feature film. These are all big indie players in different genres coming together to make a dark comedy that sheds a little light on a killer who just wants to be loved. It's like a quirky funnier version of William Lustig's Maniac.
Our hero/killer Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) is trying to adapt to life in his new job as a warehouse worker for a toiletry company and make new friends, especially with his office crush Fiona (Gemma Aterton). Sadly Fiona wants nothing to do with the awkward Jerry who treats him very poorly. We learn the reason Jerry is so strange is because he has had a troubled upbringing with an abusive father and psychologically unstable mother, which is a concoction for insanity in Jerry's life as he is constantly at his therapists office trying to fix his problems. Unfortunately he thinks the therapists visits alone will help and neglects to take his medication. Cue the voices. The little Angel on Jerry's shoulder is represented by his dog Boscoe who tells Jerry to be an upstanding citizen. The little devil on his shoulder is his cat Mr. Whiskers who simply tells Jerry on a daily basis to stick many things up his rear in a slew of colorful profane words. One unfortunate night and one accidental kill while Jerry is off his meds leads him into a murderous spiral as not only do his pets tell him what to do, but the heads of his victims kept in his fridge all have their two cents to give Jerry.
This is a very dark comedy I cannot put enough emphasis on dark as many of the scenes showcase how miserable and depraved Jerry can get but it also brings some of the best acting Ryan Reynolds has done. A lot of this drama is balanced by inappropriate comedy mostly from his two pets Boscoe and Mr. Whiskers as they guide him in so many unfortunate ways. When I say everything in this movie talks I mean it. Jerry has a fridge full of heads that bicker at him constantly and all the poor man wants to do is eat his frosted flakes!
This is a fun flick with a lot of weird quirks and a lot of dark drama, but just as the movie seems to be getting it's most dark and insane it delves into a musical number featuring Jesus Christ himself. I'm not even kidding and it's fantastic. This flick redeems Ryan Reynolds for his last couple of superhero mistakes ten fold and honestly got me super excited to see him comeback in Deadpool! He really makes you feel sorry for this poor misguided killer especially when you find out the origins of his first kill and why he is the way he is. Honestly if talking cats and dogs and singing Jesus don't sell this movie I don't know what will! Enjoy this slice of silly insanity! 28 Days til' Halloween Halloween! 28 Days til' Halloween! Silver Shamrock!
