Film Review: The Mimic

The Mimic is a comedy from writer/director, Thomas F. Mazziotti, that follows the strange development in the life of a character that is referred simply as The Narrator (Thomas Sadoski). It is an upheaval that is rooted with the arrival of his soon-to-be frenemy, who he refers to as The Kid (Jake Robinson). The Narrator can tell that something is up with The Kid, and soon comes to believe that he is actually a full blown sociopath. The begin to have a surreal back-and-forth, in which the Narrator tries to dissect and pick apart at the Kid, and his doubtful background.

The Narrator is a self-assured but high-strung writer who works for the local newspaper. He is quick to overthink things, especially as the Kid more or less forces his way into his life. It doesn’t take long until his fascination of the Kid turns to an obsession. The Kid is equally strange, but in his own way, as he is usually monotonous in almost every aspect of his presence. And in an amusing manner, he begins to – as the title would suggest – mimic elements of the Narrator’s life and personality, sometimes in a subtle way, and other times more overtly.

There is a lot to like about this film. One of the finest aspects of it is the script, which is supposedly based on a true story of something that actually happened in Mazziotti’s life. It is packed with dialogue, each line sharper and more witty than the last. It has a snappy, screwball quality to it that I love, it probably could have even been an early collaboration between Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the late 60s. The structure is episodic in nature, but it does a really good job at crafting such full drawn characters that are fun to watch.

Mazziotti’s direction is also remarkable. With films that have a clearly limited budget, I’m fairly used to them being visually flat. However, this film is a lot more inventive with how its shot and cut that I could have anticipated, thanks to the work put in by cinematographer, Tim Gillis, and editors, Benjamin Cox and Kala Mandrake. Not only do they manage to reflect the breakneck rhythm of the dialogue, but they incorporate some engaging stylistic flourishes that keep things interesting. Of course, it’s not stylizing just for the sake of it, it all works to reflect the offbeat nature of the story and characters.

Ultimately, the charms of the film do rely on the cast delivering on the idiosyncrasies of the script. Sadoski and Robinson are absolutely up to the challenge, really fleshing out these characters with fun little quirks and details to their performances. It also helps the film that it is full of veteran character actors who bring a lot of personality to the film. Folks such as Austin Pendleton, Gina Gershon, Jessica Walter, M. Emmet Walsh, and Matthew Maher, among many others, all make even the briefest of roles very memorable and funny.

Once it’s all said and done, what matters is that The Mimic is very funny. It’s funny because it crafts an interesting pair of characters that work brilliantly off one another. It gives space for those characters to challenge each other, and bounce off each other with verve and unwavering commitment to the bit. Occasionally the film can get too clever for its own good, but it mostly comes together fairly well. Despite having only made two films prior to this, and both being made before the year 2000, Thomas F. Mazziotti really impresses in his writing and filmmaking. The Mimic might be a fairly light watch, but it’s one that makes for some solid entertainment.

The Mimic will open in select theaters and VOD platforms on February 5th.