In this quirky comedy, after getting fired from his last job, Larry, played by Jason Schwartzman, along with his trusty sidekick french bulldog Arrow (Schwartzman's real-life pet), goes through life as a misanthropic outcast looking for work and a purpose in life.
By widening his soulful puppy eyes - matched only, quite eerily, by those of his French bulldog in real life, Arrow - Schwartzman successfully dares audiences to care.
"7 Chinese Brothers," modest and unassuming, wins us over too, even though I can't figure out what the R.E.M. song has to do with the movie. Plus, it looks like Byington could only afford 2 Chinese brothers at most.
Writer-director Bob Byington showed potential as a social satirist with his provocative 2008 indie RSO (Registered Sex Offender), but this slacker comedy lacks any such venom.
The film never allows the audience to truly get to know any of the characters in Larry's world, a world in which their uniform shirts emblazoned with company logos and their first names serve as reminders of their lot in life.
