1000 Tiny Birds: 2024 edition

Self Reliance (2023)

2024-01-20

  1. I am wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa with a tremendous cold, and more than anything just want a film to keep me company, rather than to be any good. Luckily, Self Reliance fulfils both briefs.

  2. Oh it’s a lot of fun from the off, with Andy Samberg doing… whatever it is Andy Samberg is doing in this film. The humour is at the perfectly oblique angle for my sensibilities in this moment.

  3. There’s a relative amount of emotional heft to it, not always earnt, not always worth it, but I admire them making the effort!

  4. There’s also a good balance of utter dead pan and screaming ridiculousness.

  5. Does it all tie itself together at the end? You know what? It does, enough. I would like to see much more from Jake Johnson, off the back of this.