On the Count of Three
Director: Jerrod Carmichael
Year Released: 2021
Rating: 2.0
Long-time friends Val (Carmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott) have had it with existing and form a suicide pact: they're to spend one more day on Earth, get a few "loose ends" tied up and then shoot each other ... but, like life itself, nothing goes according to plan. The concept could have been lifted out of a basic philosophy text - "if you knew you had 24 hours left on this planet, what would you do?" - and screenwriters Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch give it the Sundance Treatment (with a mandatory dollop of trauma): Val has problems with not only his father (J. B. Smoove) but his (pregnant) girlfriend (Tiffany Haddish) while Kev was "allegedly" molested by a psychiatrist (Henry Winkler) ... although it's hard to tell what exactly transpired there given the frivolous nature of the project. It's stand-up comedian Carmichael's directorial debut and both he and Abbott handle the Tarantino-inspired buddy banter well ... but its message is very unhealthy, and therapy and proper medication are the recommended course of action. Side note for the meme-gang: the company Val works for is called "Ritchie Feed & Seed" ... was that formerly Chuck's?