A ‘Folk Hero & Funny Guy’ Walk Into A Bar

Alex Karpovsky and Wyatt Russell make for a charming enough, if unconventional, pairing in the buddy comedy, Folk Hero & Funny Guy. Getting beyond the awkward title, it’s a likeable but somewhat aimless road trip film filled with a talented but understated cast of comic actors.

Stand-up comic turned filmmaker Jeff Grace fills the indie comedy with his own personal experiences on the road all set to easygoing folk songs by songwriter Adam Ezra. The lead actors have a believably antagonistic chemistry the way old friends do while the third wheel in Meredith Hagner offers a pleasing warmth to the story balancing out the male energy. She gives a really bright, sunny performance full of musical energy.

Themes surrounding artistic pursuits, career dreams, fractured friendships, and personal space are lightly touched upon while focusing on carefree fun as Grace races to first establish then pit his characters against each other for some humorous but inelegant conflict. Issues aside, pairing a successful, charismatic musician with a neurotic, struggling stand-up comedian—both well cast—on the road makes for a mostly appealing movie in premise and execution.