What’s Aged the Worst?
Sympathy for Bob, Leo’s attempted murder, older comedy’s extreme violence, and period skepticism toward psychiatry (target disputed)
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:20Read transcript
- A modern reading can see Bob as a sociopath who invades Leo’s family and helps drive him into a yearlong collapse. — Bill Simmons
- The movie goes off the rails when Leo tries to murder Bob. — Van Lathan
- The attempted murder is compared with older comedies that used kidnapping, threats, or mass violence as jokes. — Van Lathan
- Bob is described as trying to reach the next day, while Leo is more interested in figuring people out than helping them. — Van Lathan
- One reading says the movie treats psychiatrists as hucksters and punishes Leo for caring more about television fame than patients. — Sean Fennessey
- The counterargument is that the script respects therapy but mocks a specific fame-hungry practitioner. — Sean Fennessey
- The movie is placed in the period’s “from hell” lineage, where an unwanted person enters a transactional relationship and will not leave.