Synopsis
Set in the Mojave Desert, the film follows a broken-down comedian playing clubs across the Southwest, working his way to Los Angeles to meet his estranged daughter.
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Cast
- Gregg TurkingtonThe Comedian
- Tye SheridanEddie The Mime
- John C. ReillyJohn
- Lotte VerbeekThe Chromotherapist
- Dean StockwellFrank
- Amy SeimetzRene
- Tim HeideckerThe Celebrity
- Kalia PrescottMaria
- Tonantzin CarmeloTeresa
- Waymond LeePrisoner
Recommendations
- 91
IndieWire
While Entertainment lacks the focused critique of "The Comedy," it nevertheless offers a fascinating look at the tension between personal aspirations and the harsh realities holding them back. - 91
The Playlist
As warped and sadistic as Entertainment is, its brilliance is in the embrace of humiliation and failure, and the way it forces us to confront and sit with those embarrassing, uneasy feelings. - 90
The New York Times
Mr. Alverson jacks up the tension with exquisite restraint. - 88
Slant Magazine
It conjures a menacing perspective on how the titular occupation hulls out empathy and cultivates a particularly unsettling strain of cynicism. - 80
Variety
Take it or leave it, Alverson’s fourth feature is singular stuff, and it reconfirms the director as one of the truly bold voices in the all-too-homogenous U.S. indie film scene. - 80
Village Voice
Entertainment is a painful, poetic watch. - 75
The A.V. Club
It’s a portrait of the comedy tour as odyssey of madness, a plummet into the abyss. - 60
The Guardian
The on-stage moments of Entertainment are revelatory but, unfortunately, some of the in-between meat of the film doesn’t quite connect.
