The Happy Poet

This low-key but frequently funny comedy—written, directed by, and starring Paul Gordon—tells the offbeat story of a part-time writer named Bill (Gordon), whose modest dream is to sell healthy, vegetarian food from a hot dog stand in a park. With a tiny loan from a bank and a rented cart, Bill starts up his business…and quickly fails, but manages to attract the support of the freeloading Curtis (Chris Doubek) and stoner Donny (Jonny Mars). The latter plays a big part in transforming Bill's confusing business plan into a success, while secretly grafting his own pot-dealing side project onto the enterprise. Meanwhile, a lovely customer (Liz Fisher) is drawn to the obtuse Bill, encouraging him to show her some of the poems he wrote during his years in graduate school. Gordon's real gift as a comic filmmaker lies in tone and dialogue, the latter often hysterical when Bill's choppy syntax and flat-lining expression meet Donny's wary dude-speak. This is that kind of movie where the sight of someone landing his bowling ball in a gutter says volumes about abject cluelessness and slacker misery. Recommended. (T. Keogh)