First Hit: Enjoyable little indie film about how lying can catch up with you.
The film begins with the main character Gilby Smalls (Fran Kranz) having a really bad day. He gets fired from his job, his apartment burns down and just as he goes over to his girlfriend’s house with boxes full of his remains from the fire, she tells him he cannot stay there. Standing in her living room, she dumps him as she gets ready to go out with a man she’s been seeing on the side. The world crashes around him.
To set up how he lies, we see him in a job interview and his lying is hilarious. Then, going to a friend’s family party he runs into Rachel Stone (Odette Annable) who is his friend’s sister and she's a knockout. His conversation with her is sidesplitting because he lies the whole time. Each time she catches his lie, he segues into another lie. It is even more funny because you know he doesn’t even really believe his own lies but he tries to make the other person believe them.
When Rachel’s husband Eric (Chris Diamantopoulos) has to go on an extended trip, he hires Gilby to run his company because Gilby told him he had previously sold a company that was just like his. This, of course, is a lie.
What drives him in this new endeavor? Partly it is because he’s fallen in love with Rachel and the other part is that he wants to be successful. With nowhere to live, he moves back in with his mother May (Colleen Camp). His mother has never told him who is father was because she slept around a lot and has no idea whose Gilby’s father is. After berating his mom for a name, she finally names a man, James Lance (Arthur J. Nascarella) as his father which is, of course, a lie.
All of these lies, get found out and Gilby, Rachel, May, James, and Eric all finally get the truth. And as we all know the truth does finally set Gilby free.
Kranz is very good in this role. He’s funny, self-effacing, and convincing with the stories he tells. Annable is strong as the woman wanting a different life than the privileged one she has. She has to own her truth as well. Nascarella is very good as Gilby’s potential father. Diamantopoulos is strong as the company owner whose self-importance has him missing the beauty of his wife. Camp is funny and excellent as Gilby’s mother. Phil Allocco wrote and directed a fun and pointed indie film.
Overall: This is a nice little film that is funny and has a story worth telling.