Review: I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With

The closing scene of I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With is so modestly pitch-perfect that the perfectly average preceding material barely deserves it. Jeff Garlin doesn’t stray too far from his regular Curb Your Enthusiasm gig with this laidback indie (which he wrote, directed, and stars in), embodying a semi-authentic version of himself for semi-improvisational, semi-sweet romantic comedy. James (Garlin) is a 39-year-old Chicago actor who lives at home with his mother and drowns his low self-esteem in junk food while sitting on the hood of his car in a convenience store parking lot at night. Unable to get his career on track—he fruitlessly tries to audition for a remake of Marty, his favorite film—and a loser at love, James gets lucky when ice cream parlor server Beth (Sarah Silverman) gives him a free sundae, asks if he’s ever enjoyed a “Hoagie Shack” (a bizarre nickname for a sexual act), and then invites him on an underwear-shopping expedition. Silverman reliably churns out a few inappropriate gems, but Beth’s romance with James is paltry—sketchy stuff that goes limp almost as soon as it begins. As usual, Garlin comes off as a witty, likeable guy, and his rapport with buddy Luca (David Pasquesi), who works at a retirement home, has the casual back-and-forth zing born from lengthy friendship. Yet despite a few chuckle-worthy moments—such as James’s rambling, inapt speech in front of an elementary school class, and cameos from Amy Sedaris and Richard Kind—as well as a finale that succinctly encapsulates the story’s sentiments about aging, parent-child relationships, and performing, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With is nothing more than the type of casual diversion an agreeable TV star might make with his friends during his primary show’s summertime hiatus.