
THE GUTTER
Starring: Shameik Moore, D’Arcy Carden, Susan Sarandon, Paul Reiser, and Jackée Harry
Directors: Yassir and Isaiah Lester

AMARÚ

The Gutter lets you know right away what you’re in for, and with Shameik Moore fully embracing the dumb from the start, I sat back and laughed my ass off. Following Moore’s lead, the epic ensemble of comedic character actors and a couple of living legends (Susan Sarandon and Paul Reiser) deliver hilarious bits with great timing and juvenile glee. It’s really hard to make purposefully idiotic humor work, but the surprising laughs and dedicated cast make this stupid time a hilariously stupid time. The Gutter is a 3-reel film on paper, but a 3.5-reel movie in my heart.

KATIE

The Gutter’s indie charm and improvisational humour are enough to make up for the jokes that either didn’t land or went over my head. It’s satisfyingly stupid, reminding me of the feverish and often absurd comedic stylings of late 2000s Will Ferrell, with genuine laugh-out-loud moments, funny performances, and surprising cameos. How trashy the jokes are and how little it makes sense doesn’t really matter because it all makes the film even more stupid, and therefore, even more funny. The Gutter, providing it finds the right audience, is destined to be a cult classic.

QUENTIN

I’m about to reference a bunch of movies that The Gutter reminds me of. Some are because of the story, others because of the vibe. Now, I’m not saying it reaches the heights of the following titles yet, but there is plenty of potential for it to join this list after repeat viewings. It shares DNA with Dodgeball, Kingpin, BASEketball, Happy Gilmore, Undercover Brother, Super Troopers, Balls of Fury, Grandma’s Boy, and more. If that list resonates with you at all, you need to check this one out because it’s been a while since a comedy has successfully reveled in this type of unabashed low-budget silliness.