Sunday Matinee: Such A Funny Life [Film]

“Such a Funny Life” is about the Guiterrez family who moves to New York from “nowhere”. Our main character, David grew up in a challenging household with an abusive and plotting father Ralph, and mentally challenged mother Mariah. David is a complete pariah in school and in the street but he is destined to be a comic and entertainer. Through his childhood we follow him as he loses his sister Gabriella, to a tragic death, and then in his teens he falls in love with a complicated and troubled girl named Mariah. He befriends Tito, the responsible kid turned club owner and Rob, the neighborhood leader who turns into the biggest drug dealer in Brooklyn. We see the evolution of David as he juggles painful circumstances with dire decisions while still honing his ambition to be a successful comic, entertainer and actor. An inevitable story of secrets, loss, and betrayal to reach the top and later forces David to Los Angeles to start a new life where he achieves success in all aspects, albeit with a unknown price on his head and a trail of fire that threatens his family, friends and loved ones that goes deeper than any one of his comedy acts or movie roles.” – October Coast PR

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Oh Boy, are we in for an emotional journey with this one, Folks. Such a Funny Life is just that, a fucking journey. A journey through the mind of the abused, the lost, and determined. And it is all combined into one character with so much strength and pain it becomes practically nerve-racking and downright upsetting! Writer and director Oliver Mann has a story here that his simply a delightful rabbit hole of horrible circumstances and the desire to get out of a life in which David Guiterrez, the film’s protagonist, almost had no control over. It is a gripping tale that is unfortunately as old as time, but seen through a whole new lens. And THEN you tag on the appearance of stand-up comedy as a means for dealing with such pains? Well Mr. Mann, it felt as though you were speaking directly to me!

I truly did enjoy Such A Funny Life. Gonzalo Trigueros gives an amazing performance in a beautifully shot, delightful story that had so much promise, and completely lived up to the hype I was given around this brilliant film. And I won’t say exactly what kind of ending the film has as that would be a real jerk move, but suffice it to say that it was exactly how I wanted it to turn out. Again, Oliver Mann seemed to dig into my brain and decided to craft something I would specifically go ape shit for, and I know I won’t be the only one. It has everything you would expect from a truly disturbing film about truly disturbing subject matter. And if that is the emotional rollercoaster you want to pay for, well look on further than this great work of art.

Such A Funny Life will be screening in NYC on September 17^th, 2019, with additional screenings in NYC as well as Miami and Los Angeles, throughout October, 2019.