Good on Paper (2021)

Unlike many critics, Jack and I fully enjoyed this story of a frustrated 30-something comedian/actress who decides to go against instinct to hang out with a guy she meets on a plane. Iliza Schlesinger is a working stand-up comic who developed a true story into this screenplay and plays the lead role of Andrea. Margaret Cho, a hilarious stand-up/actress in her own right, plays Andrea's best friend and Ryan Hansen, in fake teeth and a chubby suit, is the hapless plane-mate. I spotted two Orange Is the New Black alumni: Beth Dover, who plays goth Leslie in this movie, and Matt McGorry as Andrea's cousin Brett.

Kimmy Gatewood directs from Schlesinger's script which co-mingles footage of her comedy shows, telling the story, with the dramatization.

The soundtrack by Jonathan Sanford isn't available online but you can listen to some of his music on his soundcloud page. Here's more info on him and the songs featured in the movie.

Schlesinger was in Pieces of a Woman, but it must have been a small part because I failed to mention her. Here's her website. Cho is a brilliant, raunchy comedian and you should grab any chance to see her do anything. She's one of the main reasons we chose to watch this. Here's Cho's site. Among many other credits, Hansen was in the ensemble for twenty episodes of Party Down (2009-10) which Jack and I really liked streaming last year. Dover was prison administrator Linda on OITNB and McGorry was a prison guard on that show, as well as one of the ensemble in How to Get Away with Murder.

Gatewood makes her feature directorial debut after acting in a bunch of TV, including 29 episodes of GLOW as Stacey and six of Atypical as Coach Crowley, and directing a few short films and TV episodes. Sanford is new to me but has scored a handful of projects.

As I said above, Rotten Tomatoes's critics are bad on paper, averaging 52%, and its audiences even worse at 38. Nonetheless, we had a lot of laughs watching it on Netflix July 8.