Zachary Quinto as the amiable, aimless and psychologically-troubled Josh who deals with hallucinations in a small town America and Jenny Slate as his new therapist Emily are begging for better material to work with.
Aardvark is not without some merit. The actors all do credible jobs in their underwritten roles, and the directing style suits the dramatic nature of the story. But the awkward, stiff writing and lack of characterization make all that effort pointless.
"Aardvark" appears to be about coping with mental illness and the toll it takes on families, and another filmmaker might have had something of consequence to say about both.
Three thoughtful performances and a couple of intriguing interactions, but it is ultimately undermined by an underwritten script. The parts are greater than the whole.
Cobbled together using clichés and contrivances, Brian Shoaf's feature debut perceives mental illness more as a personality quirk than a sickness and treats it almost as a kind of magical realism.
