Humor Me (2017)

A once-acclaimed New York playwright, Nate (Jemaine Clement), is struggling to finish his new play when his wife (Maria Dizzia) leaves him, taking their son. Desolate, broke and unable to pay the rent, Nate begrudgingly moves in with his widowed father, Bob (Elliott Gould), in his New Jersey retirement golf community. Bob, always quick with a joke, uses humor to deal with all of life's challenges, even the death of his beloved wife. It drives Nate crazy. Thinking his son could benefit from some discipline, Bob sends Nate to work for Ellis (Willie Carpenter) an older ex-Marine who runs operations at the community. While at work, Nate stumbles on a senior citizen theater troupe staging a musical. Nate agrees to help but quickly realizes it won't be easy to get these quirky senior citizens to cooperate. One of them, Dee (Annie Potts) is even trying to set him up with her daughter, Allison (Ingrid Michaelson). Things reach a breaking point when a video of Nate's earlier play surfaces, opening old wounds between him and Bob. Ultimately, the father and son realize they each have their own forms of storytelling and come to appreciate their differences.



Commentary features writer/director Sam Hoffman and producer Courtney Potts.