Izzy Gets the F Across Town is messy

Mackenzie Davis and Lakeith Stanfield in Izzy Gets The F Across Town.

Izzy Gets the F Across Town may mean well but the small indie comedy tends to be a bit of a mess.

Mackenzie Davis does her best to carry the film in the titular role of Izzy but it’s not enough to keep the film going.  Given where she is at the start of the film, it’s as if the film is the indie version of the classic comedy, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  We go from scene to scene with so many capable players stopping by for what amounts to mere cameos as best.

When Izzy wakes up in the morning, she has no clue where she is or how she got there.  She has a massive hangover when she learns that her former boyfriend is going to be celebrating his engagement to her former best friend.  It’s all the way across Los Angeles so Izzy starts heading out in that direction by any means necessary.

It’s great to see talent like Carrie Coon in the film but for a second-billed actor, she’s not on screen enough to make it worthwhile for fans of the actress.  There’s a nice musical number with Davis and Coon, who plays Izzy’s sister, Virginia.  The two of them play an acoustic cover of Heavens to Betsy’s 1994 punk song, “Axemen.”  The two sisters could have been seen performing at SXSW three years ago.  How the mighty have fallen!

There are lots of capable actors in supporting roles but it’s not enough to save the film.  Because of the way the film works, we don’t see many of them for more than a few minutes at best.  Someone like Lakeith Stanfield is here for mere moments, if only to serve as a plot device as Izzy figures out what’s happening.  Then there’ someone like Alia Shawkat who makes the best of the material while playing Agatha.  Other actors are truly blink and you miss them–you don’t even realize they are in the film until the credits come rolling along.  Davis does what she can in order to take the material to that next level with the aid of supporting actors.

What’s so disappointing in watching Izzy Gets the F Across Town is the mere fact that Izzy doesn’t grow as a person.  All one can do is watch Izzy get from point A to point B with as many obstacles being placed in the way as possible.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER:  Christian Papierniak
CAST:  Mackenzie Davis, Carrie Coon, Alex Russell, Alia Shawkat, Haley Joel Osment, Brandon T Jackson, Lakeith Stanfield, Rob Huebel, Sarah Goldberg, Kyle Kinane, Luka Jones, Meghan Lennox, and Sheldon Bailey, with Dolly Wells and Annie Potts

Shout! Studios opened Izzy Gets the F Across Town in select theaters on June 22, 2018.  The film premiered at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.

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