The Unexpecteds
Rating: 4/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
I genuinely wasn't sure what to expect when Alejandro Montoya Marin's film, The Unexpecteds, first started. The only thing I truly knew about this film is that Kevin Smith liked Marin so much that he decided to serve as executive producer and that the film's main stars contain some familiar faces, such as Matt Walsh. Therefore, I was quite excited to see what Marin had crafted and was thrilled I was going into a movie blind, which unfortunately doesn't really happen anymore. I think the film's title works perfectly because everything that transpired throughout this film was completely unexpected to me, but it all works so well. From the writing to the performances and the satire that Marin is placing throughout this film, I honestly had such a great time with it and I easily saw what Smith did in this filmmaker.
The film is centered around a group of friends who bond over influencer Metal Mike (John Kaler), a man who declares himself as incredibly rich and he can help make the viewer rich too. So yeah, you guessed it - Metal Mike is a pyramid scheme. However, our main characters, Gary (Walsh), Pati (Chelsea Rendon), Carl (Francisco Ramos) and Kurt (Gerry Bednob) fall for Metal Mike's scheme and they lose all of their money that they have put into this scheme. Now broke and down on their luck, the friend group has to figure out what to do to get their money back, and decide to follow Carl's plan of involving a professional (who he compares to Jason Bourne) to help them get their money back (Alejandro De Hoyos). I'm trying my hardest to not give too much away as I feel like the viewer needs to go in blind like me to be pleasantly surprised by the twists and the hilarious comedic moments here.
There is no doubt that this movie is really quite funny. Many comedies nowadays try too hard to be funny or make the jokes land, but Marin simply crafts these jokes and gags that just work so well. My favorite two moments are when the group goes to the hospital after a character has been placed in a coma. Not only is the dialogue quite funny, but the fact that the man in the coma has sunglasses on to protect from showing his "coma face" just lands so well. It's so out there and so random that it's hilarious. The same effect is garnered by Carl's agent (Natasha Leggero), who explicitly chews out someone for calling her multiple times as she is busy, only for the viewer to find out that her three-year-old child is on the other side of the phone call. Marin understands comedic timing and how to make jokes land, and that is evident throughout the entire film.
At the same time, I adore the way Marin wrote these characters and how they interact with one another. Each character is great in their own right, and he crafts them in such a way that makes the audience root for them or love to hate them. The main friend group is a lot of fun, and I had a great time watching them be placed into this action film plot by trying to get their money back. One of the best scenes in the film for me is when Felipe (De Hoyos) is trying to teach the group how to aim and shoot a gun. Of course, all of them miss their targets and the scene is accompanied by thrilling action music reminiscent of an action hero preparing to go to battle. The entire group are just average people who have been thrown into this crazy plot to reveal the forces behind this evil pyramid scheme, and they fail at every turn.
The entire acting ensemble here does a great job of embodying these characters. Walsh is undoubtedly great at playing these type of middle-aged losers, in a way, and I really enjoyed watching his character arc from beginning to end. The same can be said for all of the characters here as we see each character go from enjoying investing into Metal Mike to wanting revenge for having their money stolen from them. Rendon, Ramos, and Bednob are all great alongside Walsh, and I personally enjoyed Bednob's crazy performance as Kurt. His character is crude and straight up crazy at times; I saw a lot of similarities to the characters Danny DeVito plays. However, for me, the standout here was De Hoyos, who I thought did a fantastic job bringing this character to life. He is this badass action hero placed in a comedy about average Joes who need his help. Not only is it funny watching him deal with the group and their inability to do anything right in terms of hand-to-hand combat and stealth, but it's hilarious seeing this incredibly serious character find himself in the middle of a satirical crime comedy. I also really enjoyed the chemistry between him and Ramos, and I thought their character development with each other was written quite well.
On the flip side, the character of Metal Mike is simply amazing. Marin perfectly captures the essence of the average poster boy for these types of schemes, and Kaler does a fantastic job taking on this role. I loved seeing him as this straight up dirtbag who is surrounded by strippers and is spending money as quickly as he can. Then, when we see this side of him that the cameras miss, it shows how he might be as ridiculous as the character he plays, but has a spot inside of him that means well. Kaler is so much fun in this role, and I would honestly watch a whole movie dedicated to Metal Mike.
The only complaint I have about this movie is I wish the story was fleshed out more. While I think it has a great set-up and executes the story, there is much more that Marin added that didn't get explored enough. These elements include Gary's relationship with his wife and son, the relationship between Pati and her child, and the relationship between Carl and Felipe. We see a little throughout the movie, but not as much as I would have liked. In addition, the ending is wrapped up way too quickly for me for the characters, and I think the movie would have greatly benefited from having a longer and more thought-out conclusion.
All in all, I think this is a really fun little satirical action-comedy that benefits from fun performances and stellar comedic writing from Marin. I really enjoyed this world that was set up, and the plot was so fun and fresh; it's a perfect representation of online schemes that have been plaguing the world nowadays. There is no doubt in my mind that we will see a lot of Marin in the future, and he has a really bright future ahead of him. I can't wait to see the next comedy he brings to life.
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