Martin & Orloff





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Comics take detours on the road to laughs

Monday, November 10, 2003
BY STEPHEN WHITTY
Star-Ledger Staff

They used to call the best of them the "Not Ready for Prime-Time Players." The idea was that this new generation of comics was strictly after-hours, and uninterested in playing it safe.

Lately, though, it seems as if the most dangerous thing about young TV comics has been their furious stampede toward clichéd characters, dumb sitcoms and movie spinoffs.

The Uptight Citizens Brigade, however, has chosen to stay risky, doing deliberate, off-the-wall skits on Comedy Central and on the New York stage. Their idea of humor is to push something right to the edge -- and then let it topple over.

Their new movie, "Martin & Orloff," demonstrates the loose, improv-based aesthetic.

Ian Roberts plays Martin, a marketing exec and suicide survivor, cleaning up his bathroom after a recent failed wrist-slashing; Matt Walsh plays Dr. Orloff, the psychiatrist determined to help Martin "heal."

Unfortunately, Orloff's unusual therapy includes rap sessions, softball practice (his team is called the Psychlones) and trips to strip clubs; his ever-increasing entourage grows to include a stripper, a battle -crazed Army vet, and a violently jealous pro-football player.

The movie takes frequent detours into the silly, surreal and satirical (including a few shots at Hong Kong action movies). Walsh and Roberts play it all properly straight, while Brigade fans and friends like Tina Fey, Janeane Garofalo and Andy Richter turn up for quick, one-joke guest stints.

Director Lawrence Blume keeps things moving, and the picture's high-end digital video photography is surprisingly polished. The medium's speed and low cast obviously allowed for fast set-ups and extra takes, an advantage more indie comedies should take advantage of.

"Martin & Orloff" is all seriously unhinged, of course, and often in precarious taste -- Martin's latest client in a Chinese fast-food company, leading to endless racial stereotypes of angry Asians. Quite a bit of the movie falls flat.

But that's the thing about taking gambles -- sometimes they don't work and sometimes they do. Admitted, they're a dangerous thing to attempt. But when was a comedy that consistently played it safe ever really funny?