The idea is executed so perfectly. In the back of my head, I’m imagining this idea being pitched, produced and filmed in the span of a few days with the cast and crew working all sorts of hours. (Here the writer says how it was shot in one night.)
I remember the first time I saw this sketch. Those opening 20 seconds hooked me, evoking a wallowing beauty I hadn’t seen in a long time - a convincing copy of and sly reference to a certain kind of film in a certain moment in time. I only realised after multiple viewings what it was: the self-serious downer indie film in the 2005-2012 stretch. From the protagonist jolting awake in the night, to the whispered voiceover and low-saturated blueish colour grade, it presents like act one of a Zach Braff movie, act two of an eerie Michael Shannon suburban drama, shot with an eye for the verisimilitude of Beginners, Another Earth, Blue Valentine or Lars and the Real Girl.
When the long-suffered gripe of Ryan Gosling’s character (and writer Julio Torres) is revealed, it’s clear why this film sensibility was chosen. 1) It features a misunderstood protagonist living in their own quiet hell, and 2) it stars breakout performer of this film movement Ryan Gosling.
Of course equating someone’s “own personal hell” to the low-stakes selection of Papyrus for the Avatar banner is hilarious, but I think this sketch FLIES with Gosling as the lead. He nails every scene. He is so committed, so naturalistic, but he also wobbles along that self-serious tightrope to nuance the melodrama and absurdity of the obsession - it might even pip the other elements of this production. That is, this would be a funny sketch with script alone. The production design and photography lift it. But our boy Ryan Gosling makes it.
Other astute Gosling-related sketches: Ryan Goslin’s Acting Range.