Reel Reviews | On the Count of Three (Sundance ’21)

Jerrod Carmichael And Christopher Abbott Lead An Unexpectedly Sweet Buddy Comedy About Suicidal Depression

by Travis Hopson | Punch Drunk Critics

Remember The Jerrod Carmichael Show? The stand-up comedian was always an odd fit for a traditional sitcom. His humor lends itself to rather dark observations, finding the funny where one least expects it. He left that show of his own creation for more worthy pursuits, and that has led us to this, his directorial On the Count of Three, a film that plays to Carmichael’s talents by mining laughs out of the gloomy subject of suicide.

This sobering drama masquerading as a buddy comedy begins with the stark image that likely drew many a Sundance viewer to it in the first place. Two friends, Val (Carmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott), pistols aimed at one another’s heads as if in a sick duel to the death. They’re both ready to give up on life, having made a suicide pact to end it all at the barrel of a gun. You can see it; there’s no hatred in them. “I love you, my nigga”. These two are more than friends, bonded by the shitty lives that have led them to this moment.  There is something sweet, brotherly, in their arriving at this conclusion.

It’s not a spur of the moment decision, either. The depression that drags these two down like a deadweight is dealt with seriously by writers Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, enough that they confidently seek out the absurdities of their plan. This is a movie about a suicide pact, but it’s also a wildly enjoyable, unexpectedly funny story with heart and Safdie Brothers levels of edginess.

Carmichael and Abbott are top of their game here, mining plenty of dark humor out of tragedy, and meaning in the music of Papa Roach. Kevin, sporting a shock of dyed blond “Ramen noodle” hair that makes him look like Robert Pattinson in Good Time, has been committed to a mental health facility after attempting suicide. After years of going in and out of treatment, Kevin isn’t listening to their plans to help him now. He has other reasons for mistrust of the system. The abusive side of it has scarred him for whatever remains of his life.

Val has a different, but no less tragic backstory, although initially we just feel his disconnect from anything resembling happiness. A promotion at a dead-end job is the nail in the coffin. Rather than taking it as a sign of advancement, Val has no reaction at all. His banal response is to try and off himself in the bathroom toilet, to the sounds of Travis Tritt and an annoying co-worker lurking nearby.

Instead, he comes with the idea to break his best buddy Kevin out of the hospital so they can shoot one another in the head. End this thing proper like. Kevin is shocked by the idea at first. He knows why he wants to die, but Val?  It takes some convincing for Kevin to go along with the idea.

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