I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
Encyclopedia
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With is a 2006 independent film released by IFC Films
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....

 and The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...

. Written, produced and directed by, and starring Jeff Garlin
Jeff Garlin
Jeffrey "Jeff" Garlin is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author, best known for his role as Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm...

 (of Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...

), it features Garlin, Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....

 and Bonnie Hunt
Bonnie Hunt
Bonnie Lynne Hunt is an American actress, comedian, writer, director, television producer and daytime television host.- Early life :...

. Many improv
Improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...

 veterans of Chicago's Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...

 and even its 1950s predecessor Compass Players
Compass Players
The Compass Players was a 1950s cabaret revue show started by alumni, dropouts and hangers-on from the University of Chicago. The troupe was active from 1955-1958 in Chicago and St. Louis...

 appear, as well as Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl
Steve Dahl
Steven Robert Dahl has been an American radio personality and humorist for more than thirty years. He is currently podcasting, and releases the podcasts for download daily from his own website as well as the iTunes store...

 in a cameo.

Plot

Overweight, depressed improv
Improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...

 actor James (Jeff Garlin
Jeff Garlin
Jeffrey "Jeff" Garlin is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author, best known for his role as Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm...

) is a Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...

 cast member in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. He lives with his mother (Mina Kolb, who also plays Garlin's mother in Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...

), and cheats on his diet. He quits his acting job on a sleazy television prank show, his girlfriend (Rebecca Sage Allen) breaks up with him, and his agent (Richard Kind
Richard Kind
Richard John Kind is an American actor known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City .- Early life :...

) dumps him. When he visits his friend's daughter's elementary school for Career Day, he rambles about his problems, boring the kids, and embarrassing himself in front of the teacher, Stella (Bonnie Hunt
Bonnie Hunt
Bonnie Lynne Hunt is an American actress, comedian, writer, director, television producer and daytime television host.- Early life :...

). James relaxes in the evenings by lying on the hood of his car parked "in a great spot" beside Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...

, and during the days by walking around the North Side of Chicago with his friend Luca (David Pasquesi
David Pasquesi
-Career:Some of his screen credits include Groundhog Day, Strangers with Candy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Return to Me, and The Ice Harvest. He starred in the Steve Delahoyde short film that premiered in , and co-starred with Jeff Garlin in Garlin's I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With; In addition, he...

), appreciating the buildings.

While wearing a pirate costume for a hot dog stand, James hears about a Chicago-based remake of Paddy Chayefsky
Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay....

's 1955 Marty
Marty (film)
Marty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The film enjoyed international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and...

, his favorite movie, and one that mirrors his adult life. He knows the director but cannot get an audition.

After walking out on his Compulsive Eaters Anonymous meeting, James goes to an ice cream parlor, where he meets "big-time hottie" Beth (Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....

), who recognizes him from Second City and offers him free ice cream. She asks him an obscurely lewd question, which she then cheerfully explains to him. When James, smitten, returns to the shop, Beth takes him on adventures, including a shopping trip for her to try on underwear. She disposes of him, explaining that she had never been with a fat guy. Meanwhile his role in Marty is given to a clueless young actor, real-life teen idol Aaron Carter
Aaron Carter
Aaron Charles Carter is an American singer. He came to fame as a pop and hip hop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among pre-teen and teenage audiences during the early-first decade of the 21st century....

.

As the story ends, James moves to his own apartment, reconnects with Stella, the elementary school teacher, and continues acting in a movie setting, at the very end of the movie.

Production and distribution

  • "Garlin struggled to find financing, which twice fell through. He shot it in 18 days, but those days were spread out over two years," reported the Associated Press
    Associated Press
    The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

    .
  • IFC Films released the film on a non-traditional schedule, called "IFC First Take", part of IFC in Theaters. It appeared on pay-per-view
    Pay-per-view
    Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...

     cable television simultaneously with a limited theatrical release, in September 2007. The DVD would follow about seven months later, April 15, 2008. But in the meantime, IFC Films made a deal with Blockbuster, giving the video chain 60 days of exclusive rental and video on demand
    Video on demand
    Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...

     rights on each film. So as of March 2008, the DVD is available to rent at Blockbuster.
  • During interviews on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
    Late Night with Conan O'Brien
    Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...

    and Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!, Jeff Garlin said that the title bothers Larry David
    Larry David
    Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...

     because it ends in a preposition.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 gave I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With a "fresh" rating of 74 percent with 34 positive reviews and 12 negative ones, with the "cream of the crop" giving it a rating of 81 percent. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

called the "rambling" film "laid back and affectionate". In an appreciative review, Chicago-based Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...


called it "a minor movie, but a big-time minor movie... If there is such a thing as a must-see three-star movie, here it is." However, John Maynard in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

scorned the movie, writing, "A better awkward title would be 'Random Events of a Failed Actor Plodding the Streets of Chicago.'"

Cast

  • Jeff Garlin
    Jeff Garlin
    Jeffrey "Jeff" Garlin is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author, best known for his role as Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm...

     as James Aaron
  • Sarah Silverman
    Sarah Silverman
    Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....

     as Beth
  • Bonnie Hunt
    Bonnie Hunt
    Bonnie Lynne Hunt is an American actress, comedian, writer, director, television producer and daytime television host.- Early life :...

    as Stella Lewis

  • Amy Sedaris
    Amy Sedaris
    Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris...

    as Ms. Clark
  • David Pasquesi
    David Pasquesi
    -Career:Some of his screen credits include Groundhog Day, Strangers with Candy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Return to Me, and The Ice Harvest. He starred in the Steve Delahoyde short film that premiered in , and co-starred with Jeff Garlin in Garlin's I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With; In addition, he...

    as Luca
  • Mina Kolb as Mrs. Aaron
  • Wallace Langham
    Wallace Langham
    James Wallace Langham II is an American actor. He currently plays the role of David Hodges in the American crime drama television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.-Film career:...

     as Claude Clochet
  • Joey Slotnick
    Joey Slotnick
    Joey Slotnick is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Slotnick was born in Chicago, Ill.His film roles include computer industry pioneer Steve Wozniak in the film Pirates of Silicon Valley, and a part in the 1996 blockbuster Twister...

     as Larry
  • Richard Kind
    Richard Kind
    Richard John Kind is an American actor known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City .- Early life :...

    as Herb Hope

  • Rebecca Sage Allen as Andrea Hope
  • Roger Bart
    Roger Bart
    Roger Bart is an American actor and singer.-Life and career:Bart was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of a teacher and a chemical engineer, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey. His uncle is journalist Peter Bart. He made his Broadway debut in Big River as Tom Sawyer in 1987...

     as Burl Canasta
  • Dan Castellaneta
    Dan Castellaneta
    Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...

    as Dick
  • Elle Fanning
    Elle Fanning
    Mary Elle Fanning , credited as Elle Fanning, is an American actress. She is the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning and mainly known for her starring roles in Phoebe in Wonderland, Somewhere, Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo which will receive a theatrical release on December 23,...

     as Penelope
  • Tim Kazurinsky
    Tim Kazurinsky
    Timothy J. Kazurinsky is an American actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his role as Carl Sweetchuck in the Police Academy films...

    as Bill Bjango
  • Paul Mazursky
    Paul Mazursky
    Paul Mazursky is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.-Personal life:He was born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jean , a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer. Mazursky was born to a Jewish family; his grandfather was an immigrant from...

    as Charlie Perlman
  • Steve Dahl
    Steve Dahl
    Steven Robert Dahl has been an American radio personality and humorist for more than thirty years. He is currently podcasting, and releases the podcasts for download daily from his own website as well as the iTunes store...

     as Father
  • Gina Gershon
    Gina Gershon
    Gina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...

     as Herself as Marty's Mother
  • Aaron Carter
    Aaron Carter
    Aaron Charles Carter is an American singer. He came to fame as a pop and hip hop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among pre-teen and teenage audiences during the early-first decade of the 21st century....

     as Himself as Marty


Alumni of the Second City, or
Compass Players
Compass Players
The Compass Players was a 1950s cabaret revue show started by alumni, dropouts and hangers-on from the University of Chicago. The troupe was active from 1955-1958 in Chicago and St. Louis...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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