Fool’s Paradise (2023): Charlie Day’s ‘Fool’s Paradise’ is a satirical comedy that tries to poke fun at the way the Hollywood movie industry functions. It stars a bunch of A-Listers like the late actor Ray Liotta, Kate Beckinsale, Adrien Brody, Edie Falco, Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, and Ken Jeong. Day also brings his cast mates from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, such as Glenn Howerton, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and Jimmi Simpson.
The film is a relentless roller-coaster ride that tries to cash in every single line from its dialogue to make quips about Hollywood. It oftentimes feels like an attempt to become a Coen brothers’ like script in regard to its criticism but fails to reach the heights of Barton Fink or Hail, Caesar!
Nevertheless, if you are a fan of Charlie Day and are interested to watch him perform a mime for over one and a half hours, Fool’s Paradise is a fun pick.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Fool’s Paradise (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Lenny (Ken Jeong) is a celebrity publicist struggling to keep his clients. One of his comedian clients (Andrew Santino) decides to fire him since he has not received any work offers in a while. He blames it on Lenny’s incompetency. Lenny tries his best to convince the comedian that he has been fairly helpful. He even pitches the man to start using puppets in his acts. Still, the comedian fires Lenny and enrages him. He says he will find a real somebody instead.
Meanwhile, a 40-something mute man, who can function as well as a five-year-old, gets released from a mental hospital since the staff cannot afford to continue his further treatment. The man walks out and decides to wander around the L.A. streets. He looks at the gang fights, trains, children’s plays, and whatnot with a childlike fascination.
How does Latte Pronto get a Hollywood gig?
A big-time Hollywood producer (Ray Liotta) is worried that the star of his latest film is not doing the work he is supposed to. This troublesome actor Sir Tom Bingsley is trying on his method acting techniques and going a little too far with his requests. Bingsley refuses to leave his trailer since he does not consider some things on the set to be era-appropriate. The producer jokes about how the actor does not think of it while he is sitting in his air-conditioned trailer.
Why does the producer decide to get a mute stranger for his movie?
While speaking about it with his associate in his car, the producer notices the mute man walking on the road. He suddenly decides to give this absolute nobody an opportunity to star in his production. Why? Because he is desperate to get rid of the nuisance of Bingsley and because the mute man looks almost identical to Bingsley. Also because the man may just act according to his wishes and not say anything against him.
Later, the producer gets angry at Bingsley for his shenanigans and says that the mute man is going to be his stand-in after that. The mute man, who has no idea of what is happening in his life, tries to take it all in. Whether it is the makeup people trying to get him ready for the shoot or the other actors he is supposed to work with, he acts as naïve as a kid.
On his first day, he is supposed to do a scene with Chad Luxt (Adrien Brody) and Christiana Dior (Kate Beckinsale) in a Western setting. While Dior plays his character’s distanced love interest, Chad comes hard at him due to their spat. The mute man struggles to maintain decorum and to follow any acting cues told by the director or the producer. He also keeps looking at the camera lens and breaking the fourth wall. Somehow, it makes sense for the screen, and they call it a day.
Why does the mute man gets known as Latte Pronto?
The producer shouts to get a latte pronto. Lenny, who manages to reach the studio around the same time, believes that it is the mute man’s name and starts calling him that. Thus, the man henceforth becomes known as Latte Pronto.
Meanwhile, Bingsley dies because he attempts method acting in a scene that involves his character attempting suicide with a rope. (While this is undoubtedly a critique of method actors taking things too far, it misses what method acting fundamentally involves. But I guess that’s a topic for another discussion.)
Because of Bingsley’s death, Pronto becomes the new star of this movie. He suddenly finds himself meeting his agent (Edie Falco), his manager, his business manager, and an unpaid intern (Shane Paul McGhie). Pronto also gets a lavish villa to stay in, which he finds odd for obvious reasons.
At night, Pronto gazes out the window and finds the sparkling lights throughout the city. He decides to take a stroll and ends up lying on a park bench under a lamp. Suddenly, Lenny shows up to escort him away since he does not want the bad publicity that comes with such actions.
The next shoot day, Pronto keeps smiling in a gut-wrenching scene and gets on the director’s nerves. Later, he gets thrown out of a window by Luxt. So, he acts genuinely surprised and confused. But he continues that schtick because he genuinely cannot understand what is happening to him. Somehow, that makes up for good acting because the actor feels what the character feels.
Once the shoot wraps up, Luxt drives Pronto to a party full of pretentious people from L.A. They talk about their dietary regimens and whatnot while having booze and drugs. Pronto ends up consuming some and starts dancing like a maniac. Luxt and others consider it pure entertainment and look at him, amazed.
While Pronto falls into a swimming pool, Christiana magically appears to save him. She takes him back to her house and falls in love with the sense of mystery he possesses. So, she takes him to her bed. She eventually decides to marry him and adopt some children. It happens so suddenly that Pronto remains confused as ever. On the other hand, Lenny gets happy since this helps Pronto get a good rep.
Later, Pronto attends a talk show. The host (Jimmi Simpson) and his sidekick (Lance Barber) hysterically laugh at anything and everything. While it may be a dig at the phoniness of talk show laughter, it also tries to poke fun at how Pronto’s entire identity becomes about being a goofy comic. He gets pigeonholed, and every action in his life gets interpreted in that way.
Anyhow, Pronto starts attending a gala for the opening night of his first movie. He sits in the theatre with 3D goggles and gets startled by his character firing at him. Everyone considers it as a part of his act. Later, a wannabe agent tries to offer his services to Pronto. Lenny jumps into the dialogue and turns it into an argument – because he does not want to let go of the lucrative deal of Lenny’s career.
Pronto tries to save Lenny but ends up getting blamed for creating this quarrel. He gets a bad rep, which impacts his personal and professional life. The agent offers him a chance to meet Lex Tanner (Jason Sudeikis) for his next movie project. The name was going to be either Mosquito Man or Mosquito Boy. Pronto meets eccentric big-shot Tanner and gets a tour of his fascinating villa. He eventually gets thrown out of the house because it is time for him to leave.
Pronto returns home barefoot since Turner’s assistant told him to leave his shoes outside the door. On his doorstep, Pronto finds Christiana and their children, who have suddenly decided to leave him to go live in France. She leaves him with a shaman (Jillian Bell) for her pretentious practice to cleanse his soul and then charges him a huge amount.
Pronto goes to shoot Mosquito Boy without his shoes. He then gets inside a party with Lenny, who offers his shoes. Lux meets him there and brings him out for a chat. While drunk, Luxt gets in a fight with some paparazzi and gets both himself and Pronto imprisoned. Lenny rescues him and brings him to the agent’s office. After her and the studio head’s (Dean Norris) lecture, he goes back to the shoot and suffers an accident while performing a stunt.
While Pronto is trying to recover in the hospital, his stand-in replaces him in Mosquito Boy. His agent fires him, and Christiana divorces him and starts dating Luxt. A new business manager (Glenn Howerton) says that Pronto does not have any money in his name and asks him to call if things turn around for him.
Unfortunately, no one wants to work with Pronto because of his ‘macho shenanigans.’ So, he ends up staying at Lenny’s ramshackle place with him. Lenny tries to get Pronto a new job in an erotic film. But Pronto can’t understand what is happening. So, as always, someone else replaces him. Lenny apologizes for getting him a porno gig. In the middle of his talking, he suddenly faints.
Pronto admits him to a hospital. But a doctor takes Pronto out of the room, saying he is a huge fan. By that time, the nurses confuse Lenny with a dead John Doe and tell Pronto that his friend died. Pronto leaves thinking Lenny is actually dead. On the other hand, Lenny recovers and thinks Lenny left him on his own.
Fool’s Paradise (2023) Movie Ending, Explained:
How do Pronto and Lenny meet after the hospital?
Lenny keeps calling his contacts from the city to find a gig but fails miserably. While he tries to make ends meet one or the other way, Pronto spends his night sleeping on a park bench. In the morning, Dagger (Common) brings him out and talks about the absolute indifference of the world toward a star like him, who was famous not too long in the past. Later, Pronto ends up saving Dagger. As a result, he suddenly becomes a hero.
This supposedly heroic act brings Pronto back into the spotlight. He gets a key to the city and gets an offer to run for office. The mayor decides to use the ongoing popular narrative of anti-capitalistic heroes to their advantage and use Pronto as a placeholder. After that meeting, he gets kidnapped to meet a rich and influential person – Ed Cote (John Malkovich). The Cote brothers try to discourage Pronto from pursuing a political career as a ‘corporation killer’ and threaten his life.
For abandoning aspirations in politics, Ed gets Pronto his representation back to get his movie career on track. But he finds this pressure too difficult to handle and abruptly decides to run away. While he wanders the streets aimlessly, Lenny meets his past comedian client, who now decides to use the puppet schtick to get gigs. But, by then, Lenny considers himself a changed man and does not want his greed to get the better of him.
Why does Lenny speak only in the end? What is the significance of Lenny’s first words?
Soon after, Lenny happens to notice Pronto. They both get surprised to see each other alive and well. He gets emotional and apologizes for using him for personal profit. Lenny claims that he does not care about work but just wants him back as a friend. He says, ‘I love you.’ Suddenly, Lenny says his first sentence – ‘I love you too.’ The writing hints that he finally decided to speak since he found a human connection in a city famous for cutting contact with a person once the fame fades away.
Related to Fool’s Paradise (2023): How to Watch Charlie Day’s Directorial Debut “Fool’s Paradise”?
Trailer:
Fool’s Paradise (2023) Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia
Fool’s Paradise (2023) Cast: Charlie Day, Ken Jeong, Kate Beckinsale, Ray Liotta
Where to watch Fool’s Paradise
