Written by Cameron Geiser

If you're a fan of the show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia there's plenty to celebrate lately. Series creator Rob McElhenney, who also stars as Mac in the show, has expanded his reach with two more shows since Sunny's record breaking success. Mythic Quest, a workplace comedy focused on the video game industry has premiered on Apple TV+ earning critical acclaim, while Welcome to Wrexham is a new documentary series that follows the trials and tribulations of McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds co-owning the 3rd oldest football club in the world in the Northern Welsh town of Wrexham. Glenn Howerton, who plays Dennis Reynolds in Sunny, is starring in Blackberry, a movie that ironically hit theaters on the same day as Fool’s Paradise, which just so happens to be written, starring, and directed by Charlie Day.

Fool’s Paradise begins with Ken Jeong’s overwrought publicist Lenny on the streets of Los Angeles, he's an energy drink guzzling ball of neurosis who's searching for a new client to shepard from anonymity to stardom. Cut to our lead in a Hospital with a doctor explaining that while our protagonist isn't mute or deaf, he's got the mind of a five year old child, or a golden retriever who needs a lot of expensive care- and since he can't afford any of that they dump him on the streets. It isn't long before a movie producer (Ray Liotta) sees him on the street and brings him back to the studio lot where his star actor on the set of Billy The Kid is being a demanding drama queen. Luckily for the film crew, our lead looks exactly like the actor Sir Tom Bingsley (also played by Charlie Day) and they put him in front of the cameras to fill out some shots while the method actor wastes time in his trailer. Things escalate quickly and before you know it our mute protagonist has become the star of the film and given a moniker by mistake. As Lenny bribes his way onto the studio lot he sees opportunity knocking and introduces himself by misnaming the lookalike vagabond as “Latte Pronto” by mistaking the Producer’s demands for a quirky Celebrity name.

While there’s nothing new in what *Fool’s Paradise* is saying, it’s nice to see Charlie Day flexing his ideas as a director.

The remainder of the film is a satirical take on how Hollywood can make you just as quick as it can break you, chew you up and spit you out. The most entertaining part of Fool's Paradise was during the film crew's attempts at trying to get Latte Pronto to follow any basic direction notes while on the set of Billy The Kid. If you know anything about the production of a film on a set, this scene is insanity and I absolutely loved it. Fool's Paradise focuses far more on the friendship between Lenny and Latte than I would have expected, but almost everything else about the film's plot and structure is quite predictable. Though John Malkovich's late stage scene stealing monologue was absolutely *fantastically* over the top and I did not see that coming. From overdone Hollywood caricatures to an overreliance on the large number of Celebrity cameos that waltz through Fool's Paradise, Charlie Day's first film has a lot going for it, but it never fully commits to a sharper satire or a story with more soul.

However, the film's final act does take the earnest character of Latte Pronto and rebel against all the false pretenses and artificiality of Hollywood. So, that's nice. Is Fool's Paradise the most gripping or mesmerizing film you'll see this year? No, certainly not. But it did make me laugh quite a bit, and that's not nothing. While Charlie Day's directorial debut may not have had the most original things to say in a satire of Hollywood, it was nevertheless an entertaining first film and I sincerely hope he continues to refine his skills and make more movies.

Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.