“Are we going to leave now?”
“As soon as I finish my sandwich.”
It took the couple next to me less than five minutes to loudly bail on the absolutely filthy – and hilariously funny – “All About Nina.” Apparently, period diarrhea jokes aren’t everyone’s cup of moon cycle tea. But Eva Vives‘ directorial debut about a raunchy female stand-up isn’t just a foul-mouthed comedy with excellent timing; there’s real depth and emotion present in the filmmaker’s sharp script, brought to life by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common.
Nina (Winstead) is a working comic in New York’s stand-up scene, known for her aversion to relationships, sex-positive sense of humor and jokes that are dirtier than a subway pole. To escape her married, abusive lover, Joe (Chace Crawford), she heads west to audition for a special on a comedy network. After killing it in a routine in Los Angeles, she meets chill contractor Rafe (Common), who tempts the skittish New Yorker into considering commitment. Meanwhile, she works toward her dream of stand-up success, dealing with sexism from network execs, fellow comedians, and her audience.
The comedy arrives at a time when we’re examining sexism in all industries, but stand-up has been a focus, particularly in the wake of Louis C.K.‘s sexual misconduct mess. “All About Nina” addresses the experience of comediennes with no-holds-barred humor, discussing the variety of issues faced by them on and off stage. But it also proves that a film can have it all, deftly balancing Nina’s career and her personal life. Her work is given just as much focus and time as her romance with Rafe (if not more), and the pursuit of her professional passion never feels like we’re just killing time until their next love scene. She’s a whole person who’s fully formed, even if the shape we see her in is a badly damaged one. She’s a spiky ball of anger, and the problems she and Rafe face aren’t cute rom-com tropes that are simply the result of a misunderstanding. Instead, she’s a broken, brittle human, who has to sublimate her own desires to self-destruct to make things work with Rafe.
But if anyone is worth the effort it’s Rafe. “All About Nina” actively confronts the idea of him as the ideal boyfriend, and much of the character is wish fulfillment at its finest. However, like Nina, he’s a person with flaws, which makes him more than just a fantasy. As her love interest, Common is equally funny and warm, and his charm works as well on the audience as it does on Nina. It’s still surprising that he’s only been cast as a romantic lead a handful of times.
Contrasting with his smoothness is Winstead’s Nina; she’s all hard angles to put off those around her, but she doesn’t bear these traits in the moment just because that’s the character written by Vives. The filmmaker has built a history for her that fits with the woman we see on screen, and her responses in situations – whether to Rafe, sexually aggressive fellow comedian Mike (Jay Mohr) or her mother’s overeager neighbor (Mindy Sterling) – feel true to the woman we’ve gotten to know. Winstead’s performance draws us in, even as her character pushes everyone around her away. She’s bold and brash, but Winstead crackles, making her always watchable, even as she’s working to implode her life. She’s able to handle not only the stand-up performances but also the more nuanced emotional parts of the role. There might have been the temptation to cast an actual comedian for the lead, but Winstead aces the wide range of emotions that a less experienced actress might have struggled with.
Though this is Vives’ directorial debut, she previously wrote the story for indie favorite “Raising Victor Vargas.” Some threads here feel underdeveloped, but she largely continues the solid character work she offered in her last feature. But “All About Nina” isn’t just about providing an arc for its protagonist, boasting laugh-out-loud dialogue throughout. That humor counters the film’s darker streak, which makes dead baby jokes look like a routine for “The Ed Sullivan Show” in the 1960s.
Between its sharp-edged comedy, DGAF protagonist and shared emotional trauma, “All About Nina” isn’t for everyone (especially if you’re only using the theater as a venue for sandwich eating). But this debut marks a bright future for Vives and is an excellent entry in the romantic comedy format that doesn’t lose sight of who its heroine is the moment she falls for someone. [B+]
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