The Stream: A bit unfulfilling

The Big Screen: Some nice ironic comedy

The Final Bill: A nice dark comedy but lacks a big punch

– S2S: Movie Review and Trip Fontaine
Director: Jake Johnson
Writers: Jake Johnson
Stars: Jake Johnson, Andy Samberg, Bjorn Johnson
Genre: Comedy, Thriller
Rating: R (Language)
Runtime: 1 hour 25 minutes
Production Companies: MRC Film, Media Rights Capital (MRC), The Lonely Island
Platform: Hulu released January 12, 2024
Coming Soon to Hulu: Death and Other Details

What’s up, Streamers! Are you looking for a weird comedy? Do you want to laugh but also be a little confused? Sure, you do. Well, here’s a streaming title that you can check out on Hulu that has an interesting premise and good cast that might fill that void.

In Self-Reliance, sad sack, regular guy Tommy (Jake Johnson) receives an invite by way of Andy Samberg (Andy Samberg) to participate in a reality game show on the dark web. The rules of the game are that Tommy has to survive for 30 days while being hunted by unknown persons and he will win one million dollars. Tommy can only be killed while he is alone, so he must keep a friend of family member with him at all times. The movie follows Tommy through his attempts to survive the 30 days through various misadventures and attaching himself to random acquaintances. Cavorting with the unhoused hijinks ensue.

Self-Reliance has a good premise, but there isn’t much story here. This movie should not have been a feature length as there is only enough to cover a basic sketch show short. It’s not surprising that The Lonely Island is involved in this production. Beyond that, I didn’t find this movie very funny. If you like Jake Johnson and his brand of yell-y comedy, then you may enjoy it more than I did. It’s giving Nick Miller. The characters are supremely frustrating as well from Tommy and his inability to explain anything to his family, who are oddly cold and dismissive to Tommy’s plight. Don’t get me started on the potential love interest played by Anna Kendrick that’s shoehorned into this movie. That storyline just felt like a device to justify the runtime.

Ultimately, Self-Reliance is an unfortunate misfire for Jake Johnson, and it would have worked better as just a short movie or a comedy sketch. The comedy is both lacking and specific to those fans of Jake Johnson. While the premise is good, the execution is pretty frustrating from the lack of laughs to the annoying cast. If you have time to fill, you could grab a handful of popcorn and watch this movie.