Listen Up Philip is a film about horrible people. From the first frame to the last it is a film obsessed with persons so intolerably arrogant, insufferable, and completely full of themselves that it becomes a challenge to the audience. Whether you're willing to sit through it is your call but be prepared to work for you enjoyment.
Our main character is the titular Philip, a self-centered author about to release his second novel after his wunderkind debut years earlier. He likes to do things his way, without any emotional attachment to other people. In the first few scenes we see him rip two people to shreds, first one of his ex-girlfriends and then his old wheelchair-bound college roommate. Right off the bat one thing is clear: Philip is a piece of shit. And he also happens to be brilliant.
Jason Schwartzman plays Philip as an amalgam of two of his former roles. There is the genius of Rushmore's Max Fisher, and the enduring self-loathing of I Heart Huckabees's Albert Markovski. Thrown into a blender and mixed with some over-the-top New York-snobbishness we get Philip Friedman. His girlfriend is Ashley, played by Elisabeth Moss. She is a photographer that supported him when he was at his lowest point.
After he befriends legendary author Ike Zimmermann (played by an invaluable Jonathan Pryce) who decides to mentor him, Philip unceremoniously dumps Ashley. This in turn puts her into a downward spiral as her relationship with Philip has put such a burden on her that she has become incapable of connecting with other people.
Once you've made it that far into the movie (which should be around the 30 minute mark) you will probably have decided whether you are in or whether you are out. Writer and director Alex Ross Perry doesn't play his cards close to the chest, instead he invites us right into this cabinet of despicable people. In doing so, and playing it not for laughs but completely straight, he does something what too few filmmakers nowadays do: Take their audience seriously. He doesn't judge how horrible Philip and Ike are in their sublime arrogance, instead he gives them plenty of screentime and leaves it to us to figure out whether there is any figment of humanity left in either of them. Sure, Ross Perry nudges us a little bit with reactions from Ashley and Ike's estranged daughter but in the grand scheme of things we are left to make up our own minds, think for ourselves.
While that is a rare and very welcome notion, Listen Up Philip also faces some shortcomings. There is a heavy reliance on third-person narration which at moments works perfectly well to accompany and enhance the ongoings on screen but more often than not simply emphasizes the things that the film isn't able to communicate through more cinematic means. An overuse of closeups also distracts more than it seems to add and becomes almost intolerable at times, especially when coupled with seemingly pointless zooms and shaky handheld photography. But the biggest problem and what makes the film so tough to get through is the running time of almost two hours. Do we really have to spend that much time with people so deliciously spiteful when the point has been made already at halftime? And why do we need a tacked on new lover for Philip that in the end doesn't bring anything new to the table other than to hammer home what we've already got?
Luckily, the last couple of minutes are so perfectly downbeat and hit the mark right on that you can't feel but be glad to have come this far. Sure, Listen Up Philip is challenging. If you're looking for something easy to watch, then there is always some new Marvel movie being released. But if you're willing to have a bit of an uncomfortable experience only to be rewarded at the end, then this film might just be it.
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