Don't Think Twice (2016)

An improvisational group in Manhattan is struggling to survive and the six members all have day jobs they hate to support themselves. But when representatives from a popular late night sketch comedy called Weekend Live (obviously patterned after SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) sees the improv company, two of them are asked to audition for the show and at that point, their lives will be changed forever. Directed by Mike Birbiglia who also plays one of the improv group. While the film is never less than interesting and I really liked the film's message that you don't have to be famous to do what you love and even if you're acting in anonymity, you're still an actor. Success shouldn't be measured by fame. But I had a lot of problems with the movie. First, the improv we see isn't very good and my first thought was, "Poor guys, they'll never make it!" So when one of them (Keegan Michael Key) becomes a breakout star, you go "Huh?". Worse, there's no difference between the characters doing improv on stage and the "real" characters off stage. In other words, they're the same on stage and off stage. Is that the point the movie is trying to make? You're always improvising, even in real life? Only Mike Birbiglia manages to give a semblance of a real person away from the improv stage. With Gillian Jacobs, Kate Micucci, Tami Sagher, Chris Gethard, Richard Masur, Lena Dunham and Ben Stiller.