Peep World (2010)
Peep World (2010) – Every now and then you see a preview for a movie that looks great but has completely flown under everyone’s radar. Sometimes you find an unappreciated gem. Sometimes you find out exactly why it flew under of the radar. Peep World seems sort of in the vein of The Royal Tenenbaums (a literate film about a large fucked-up family) but without the stylistic flourishes that have come to define Wes Anderson’s films. Lewis Black narrates the story of the Meyerwitz family. The youngest son, Nathan (Ben Schwartz), has written a book called Peep World that is directly based on his family. This has infuriated his sister Cheri (Sarah Silverman), who is ready to sue. His brother Jack (Michael C. Hall) has more to deal with in his family life. Jack’s marriage to Laura (Judy Greer) is in kind of a rut. Other brother Joel (Rainn Wilson) has his entire life stuck in a rut, but with a new girlfriend (Taraji P. Henson) he is trying in vain to improve things. All these issues culminate in an annual dinner for distant patriarch Henry (Ron Rifkin), a successful architect. Actors like Lesley Ann Warren, Kate Mara, Alicia Witt, and Stephen Tobolowsky fill out the rest of the main cast. Everyone in this movie is game, but I don’t think the script is quite up there with the caliber of the cast. Peep World definitely has some funny stuff in it as well as some well-drawn characters but in the end it isn’t particularly memorable. The preview oversells it. This one went under the radar for a reason.
Persistence of Vision 