Jack and I quite liked this made-for-Netflix bio-pic of Jan Lewan (pronounced YON le-VON), an effusive hard-working Polish musician striving to make it big in Pennsylvania and beyond. We were tickled to read later how true most of it is. The ebullient Jack Black (last blogged for Bernie, another bio-pic) is a great choice to portray the ebullient Lewan, not least because Black can really sing. Lewan tells people to pronounce his name however they want and his American wife Marla, played by Jenny Slate (most recently in Landline), and her mother Barb (Jacki Weaver, last in these pages for Silver Linings Playbook) Americanize his name, saying it like the first syllable of January. Jason Schwartzman (most recently in My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea) is Jan's best friend and clarinet player.
Supporting strength includes J.B. Smoove (last blogged for Top Five) (to avoid spoilers I'm not going to say who he plays) and Vanessa Bayer (after Trainwreck she and her irrepressible grin are still lighting up Saturday Night Live--149 episodes and counting) as Bitsy Bear.
Director Maya Forbes (most recently helmed Infinitely Polar Bear) once again co-writes with her husband Wallace Wolodarsky (he plays Vince in this movie, and, though I neglected to mention it when writing about the above movie, has written a few other scripts with Forbes, and collaborated with others on three Tracey Ullman episodes and ten of The Simpsons).
We saw this two weeks ago and I think I liked the original music by Theodore Shapiro (he last scored Snatched) but his tracks aren't available online. Anyway, you're more likely to remember the Jack Black Polka Band. Here's a playlist. You might also enjoy this video of the real Jan Lewan.
This spoiler-filled article, best watched after seeing the movie, mentions a 2010 documentary. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are not dancing for this one, averaging only 59 and 53% respectively. Yep, it's corny. But lots of fun.
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