On Broadway-at The Cort Theatre
You know what I didn’t like about this play? I’ll tell you what. It was the marquee. When I first saw it go up, I was hoping it
was just a temporary marquee, pending a more colorful eye popping design, but that was it. So there you have it. Other than the marquee, this play was a winner all the way.
The story takes place in NYC in the studio apartment of Dennis Ziegler played by the all grown up Kieran Culkin. The year is 1982. He’s a spoiled rich kid that sits around all day smoking pot in an apartment that’s paid for by his parents. Enter Warren Straub, played by Michael Cera, the socially awkward, pothead best friend. He’s also from a privileged background and has been thrown out because his father can no longer handle the smell of pot in the house. He leaves, but not before taking a stash of $15,000 from his dad with him.
After toying with different ideas about what to do with the money, including one that includes giving it to Dennis (his idea), it’s decided that Warren needs to return all the money, so they concoct a plan to make back the money that Warren has already spent by buying and reselling drugs. Dennis goes into great calculative detail of how this will work that clearly benefits no one but himself, and Warren agrees to the plan. You will recognize Dennis as a guy you knew in high school. He might not have been your friend, but he was somebody’s. The kind that always took control of the situation, and always made you feel that he was just a little more savvy. We would let him make the decisions, and often learned the hard way, that it was not always the best idea. This is outrageously funny…not in the stand-up kind of way, but in a real life kind of way.
The dialogue continues and the synergy between Dennis/Culkin and Warren/Cera is scintillating. Dennis is ruthless, taking no sympathy and never missing an opportunity to take pot shots at Warren on any subject right down to the fact that he can’t even get laid.
Somewhere along the way enters the girl of Warren’s dreams, Jessica Goldman (Tavi Gevinson). Warren breaks the ice by getting Jessica some water claiming “chivalry is not dead, it just smells funny". One thing leads to another, but Warren’s confidence is beaming with his bag of money, and he seals the deal with a plan to rent the penthouse at the Plaza since “I happen to be very liquid at the moment”.
Act two opens with Warren returning with that fresh laid look on his face. He tells Dennis about the night at the Plaza Penthouse, and Dennis yells “too bad you didn’t stay at the Pierre. The Plaza is such a dump”. When he find out that Warren has now spent
another $1,000, he freaks out saying that they can’t make that much money on the drugs. So Warren is going to have to sell his memorabilia collection which he is lugging around in his suitcase which, of course, Dennis agrees to handle... and leaves.
As you might guess this situation is destined for disaster and it slowly deteriorates until nobody has what they want or need. This leads to a total breakdown of emotion between these two friends. Warren is mad as hell and is not going to take it anymore and a brawl ensues. The boys reveal some very deep feelings and you realize, like all of us, these two reckless, pot smoking, drug dealing youths don’t come without baggage. At the finish, we understand where awkward and abrasive is born in our youth.
The constant moments of laughter has as much to do with the delivery as it does with Kenneth Lonergan’s script. Cera is so big and real in
this role, and Culkin’s mad cap badgering is perfect discord. I really think Cera steals the show here, but that is not to take away from the outstanding performances by Culkin and Gevinson.
This play will bring back memories of your youth that will make you smile, make you laugh, and might even make you cry. ThisbroadSway – 9/12/14