10 Awful Films The Office Actors Want Us To Forget
6. Brief Interviews With Hideous Men
John Krasinski has since proved himself to be a behind the scenes talent of serious pedigree. His family comedy The Hollars is warm and fun, he was an executive producer on prestige drama Manchester By The Sea, and of course he wrote and directed A Quiet Place. His feature debut, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, is somewhat of a different story.
An adaptation of a lesser work by mercurial author David Foster Wallace, Krasinski’s inaugural effort is nothing if not ambitious. The film sees a brainy young woman interview a series of damaged, often unpleasant men as part of a study in the aftermath of a bad breakup. These revealing interviews in theory provide an insight into the thought process of men, as well as modern relationships.
It was not a commercial proposition, though it clearly wasn’t meant to be. Krasinski’s admirably high minded picture is evidently a passion project, a tribute to a writer and a property he loves. Unfortunately it’s also not all that interesting. Wallace’s book is nasty and bitter; Krasinski seems like simply too nice of a guy to convey that venom. It just doesn’t really work.