The Kingpin-inspired flick The Gutter which premiered at the 2024 SXSW TV & Film Festival, was the perfect film to screen for this crowd. Directed by brothers Yassir Lester and Isaiah Lester, the comedy is not afraid to go there with its bold sense of humor, slapstick-style and socio-political commentary. With an all-star cast of actors who you wouldn’t normally expect to see starring together in an ensemble — the DNA of this acting troupe is exactly the recipe that gives this film just the right seasoning.
Walt (Shameik Moore) is a guy that has trouble keeping a job. It seems that working in retail just isn’t his strong suit. Until one day he meets Mozell (Jackée Harry), an audacious bowling alley owner who decides to take a chance on Walt and hires him to work for her establishment named AlleyCatz. While Walt is just getting acclimated to his new job, the city building inspector (Adam Brody) has informed the staff over at AlleyCatz that the bowling alley is not up to code and is scheduled to be shut down by the city. However, a ne’er-do-well former pro-bowler by the name of Skunk (D’Arcy Carden) witnesses Walt bowling strikes flawlessly with ease. And this is where our story begins as Skunk hatches a plan to have Walt use his skills to save the bowling alley by entering him paid championship tournaments.
This turns out to be an effective strategy and idea for this duo as Walt earns money from his winnings as well as sponsors as his star begins to rise. However, we soon learn that Skunk’s intentions for Walt aren’t truly what they appear to be and there is an ulterior motive. There’s a fierce competitor in her sights by the name of Linda Curson (Susan Sarandon) and she’s not only a local legend in this small town but she remains undefeated. And as Walt moves up higher in the ranks and proves he is a force to be reckoned with, Linda sees this as a possible threat. And former pro-bowler Skunk relishes in Linda’s possible defeat.
The Gutter is a comedy that is self aware of its cheeky, over-the-top, ridiculous sense of humor. There are zingers and one-liners in this film that stick with you and are most likely to become memes and GIFs once the film is screened for larger audiences. For example, there’s a hilarious scene with Rell Battle, who plays a character by the name of Brotha Candy. He’s a self-described “hotep” and goes into how Lil Patience (Jay Ellis) looks. Knowing that Lil Patience is self-conscious about his physical appearance, he refers to him as “Sterling OK Brown”.
There’s another funny moment by veteran actor/comedian Paul Reiser, who plays Angelo, a local sports commentator. The name of the program he reports for is called Bowler’s Lives Matter. He’s not a fan of Walt at all and incessantly throws shade at him, at one time calling him the “Michael B. Jordan” of bowling.
Shameik Moore really leans into his comedy chops for this film, and while we got bits of this in the Rick Famuyiwa film Dope, he takes it to another level in The Gutter. And Walt isn’t this 2-dimensional stupid guy that you often see in these screwball comedies. He’s actually got some depth and there’s a great deal of development that grows out of his character as the story evolves. The same can be said for D’Arcy Carden as Skunk. She’s an alcoholic that’s lost so much that she’s worked hard for, and once it is revealed why she’s become the woman that she is, we realize there’s a lot more humanity and pain in comedy than just jokes and zingers.
The costumes worn particularly by Walt are silly at times and have its own sense of humor. Even in scenes that are supposed to be tragic, are some of the funniest.
The Gutter is smart, witty, cheeky and knows that it’s making fun of itself. The film made its premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
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