Like a lowbrow Samuel Beckett play, Joel Potrykus’s minimalist comedy places a character in a surrealistic situation and then observes as he reacts helplessly to a deteriorating situation. Abbie (Joshua Burge) is a couch potato who is egged on by his domineering older brother Cam (David Dastmalchian) to complete idiotic tasks within an allotted time—such as winning a video game while consuming a gallon of milk. Before exiting their grubby apartment, Cam throws down a final gauntlet: Abbie is not to leave the couch until he reaches the highest level in Pac-Man (the year is 1999) and he will have until Cam returns to win. Abbie accepts the challenge, not realizing that his brother will be gone for months, and he refuses to give up. Abbie has visitors, including a goofy friend who brings him food but refuses to give it to Abbie until the latter pays, a woman who advises Abbie to abandon the challenge, and an exterminator who insists on releasing a cloud of insecticide. Abbie smashes a window for air and breaks open a wall to reach a water pipe, and by the time Cam returns, an apocalyptic event—presumably Y2K—has occurred outside and Abbie is a bearded vegetable. Perhaps Relaxer is intended as an exhortation to the Abbies of the world to get up and live, but in the end it comes across as just a snarky exercise in nihilism. Still, it did win over a fair number of critics, so consider it a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
Relaxer
Oscilloscope, 91 min., not rated, DVD: $34.99, Blu-ray: $39.99, July 16 Volume 34, Issue 5
Relaxer
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