Jeff Baena is known for his “uproarious” comedies that center around bizarre or irregular situations. His movies’ circumstances bring a sensation of on-purpose awkwardness. It may have its audience, but I haven’t been able to enjoy any of them. The one thing that I like about his pictures is the likable cast, which includes Allison Brie and Aubrey Plaza, who everybody loves dearly.
Spin Me Round (possibly named after Flo Rida’s 2009 bop), has Baena reuniting with an all-star comedy cast consisting of Brie, Plaza, Molly Shannon, Lil Rel Howery, Zach Woods, Ben Sinclair, and Fred Armisen. It centers around the manager of an Italian restaurant chain manager, Amber, who is getting the opportunity of a lifetime: attending the franchise’s educational immersion program in Florence, Italy. However, immediately as she arrives, things start to go the wrong direction, and what she thought would be a romantic getaway develops into “chaos”. Recognizing Baena’s work, I already knew that this film wouldn’t be the easy breezy rom-com it was selling itself to be, which would have made it better, in my opinion.
Spin Me Round is a comedy that suffers from streaks of laughless minutes. Even though its cast is talented, they can go only as far as the script takes them. Some highlights are Sinclair’s deadpan line delivery and the very few sections with Aubrey Plaza that serve as a palette cleanser for the film’s lack of laughs. I know what I was getting into once I saw Baena’s name, but I was hoping his comedic chops would have a sharper edge this time around. Boy, was I wrong.
4/10
