Kabluey
Encyclopedia
Kabluey is a 2007 comedy film
written and directed by Scott Prendergast. It stars Prendergast, as well as Lisa Kudrow
, Teri Garr
, Christine Taylor
, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
, and Angela Sarafyan
. Chris Parnell
also appears in the film as a grocery store manager.
if she does not return to work.
Salman, her brother-in-law, arrives in her town to help watch over Leslie's two kids. In part this is due to Salman's having no other place to go. He seems a bit spacey and was fired from his last job at a copy shop because he enjoyed laminating so much that he laminated everything in the store that was laminatable (including the money in the till).
Leslie's eldest son, Cameron, takes an instant dislike to Salman and threatens to kill him. Her other son Lincoln follows his lead. Salman's difficulty in handling the two hyperactive children does not impress Leslie, so she asks him to leave. Unfortunately that's not an option as Salman has no money and nowhere to go.
So, struggling for answers and a way to keep things from falling apart, Leslie finds Salman a job at her company. They will trade off working and watching after the kids. Leslie does not realize that the job Salman gets is as a blue-costumed corporate mascot
called "Kabluey". Salman's job as Kabluey is to hand out flyers (advertising office space) on the side of the road for her company, a faltering dot-com
called BluNexion. The costume has its unique challenges, being extremely hot inside and having no fingers on the hands, forcing him to grip the flyers under his arms. Standing on the side of the road also seems completely pointless - as the only people who drive by are farmers who don't need office space. Kabluey (the mascot) also interacts with passing road workers, and an insane woman (who lost all of her money investing in BluNexion in an ENRON type scandal) who constantly drives by and even tries to kill Kabluey with her car. Despite all this, Salman finds strange confidence through his suit and alter ego - and his life begins to change.
Salman is asked to entertain at a birthday party in the suit. He manages to gain the respect of Cameron and Lincoln in the process. He later discovers Leslie is having an affair with her boss Brad but is afraid to confront the issue. When he later discovers that Brad is sleeping with another woman, he attacks Brad (wearing the costume) while Brad is in a motel room with the other woman, but not before calling Leslie to the scene.
Confronted with the reality of the situation, Leslie slaps Salman and walks away, but later breaks down in Salman's arms. She tells him that she never loved Brad and never planned on leaving her husband, that the situation had simply developed due to stress and as a way to keep money coming in. Leslie's husband returns home to a family happy to see him, and Salman disappears.
, American culture and commenting on the war in Iraq. It currently holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
.
"Kabluey" was also chosen as "NYT Critic's Pick" for July 4, 2008 by the Stephen Holden of The New York Times.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written and directed by Scott Prendergast. It stars Prendergast, as well as Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends, for which she received many accolades including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards...
, Teri Garr
Teri Garr
-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
, Christine Taylor
Christine Taylor
Christine Taylor-Stiller is an American actress.- Early life :Taylor was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joan, a homemaker, and Skip Taylor, an owner of a security company. She grew up in neighboring Wescosville, Pennsylvania...
, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor, best known to television and movie audiences as Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy, patriarch John Winchester on Supernatural, and as The Comedian in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen....
, and Angela Sarafyan
Angela Sarafyan
Angela Sarafyan is an American actress. She is sometimes credited as Angela Sarafian.-Early life:Angela Sarafyan was born in Armenia and moved with her parents to the United States at the age of four.-Career:...
. Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
also appears in the film as a grocery store manager.
Plot
Leslie, whose husband is in Iraq, is in danger of losing her benefitsEmployee benefit
Employee benefits and benefits in kind are various non-wage compensations provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries...
if she does not return to work.
Salman, her brother-in-law, arrives in her town to help watch over Leslie's two kids. In part this is due to Salman's having no other place to go. He seems a bit spacey and was fired from his last job at a copy shop because he enjoyed laminating so much that he laminated everything in the store that was laminatable (including the money in the till).
Leslie's eldest son, Cameron, takes an instant dislike to Salman and threatens to kill him. Her other son Lincoln follows his lead. Salman's difficulty in handling the two hyperactive children does not impress Leslie, so she asks him to leave. Unfortunately that's not an option as Salman has no money and nowhere to go.
So, struggling for answers and a way to keep things from falling apart, Leslie finds Salman a job at her company. They will trade off working and watching after the kids. Leslie does not realize that the job Salman gets is as a blue-costumed corporate mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
called "Kabluey". Salman's job as Kabluey is to hand out flyers (advertising office space) on the side of the road for her company, a faltering dot-com
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
called BluNexion. The costume has its unique challenges, being extremely hot inside and having no fingers on the hands, forcing him to grip the flyers under his arms. Standing on the side of the road also seems completely pointless - as the only people who drive by are farmers who don't need office space. Kabluey (the mascot) also interacts with passing road workers, and an insane woman (who lost all of her money investing in BluNexion in an ENRON type scandal) who constantly drives by and even tries to kill Kabluey with her car. Despite all this, Salman finds strange confidence through his suit and alter ego - and his life begins to change.
Salman is asked to entertain at a birthday party in the suit. He manages to gain the respect of Cameron and Lincoln in the process. He later discovers Leslie is having an affair with her boss Brad but is afraid to confront the issue. When he later discovers that Brad is sleeping with another woman, he attacks Brad (wearing the costume) while Brad is in a motel room with the other woman, but not before calling Leslie to the scene.
Confronted with the reality of the situation, Leslie slaps Salman and walks away, but later breaks down in Salman's arms. She tells him that she never loved Brad and never planned on leaving her husband, that the situation had simply developed due to stress and as a way to keep money coming in. Leslie's husband returns home to a family happy to see him, and Salman disappears.
Reception
Kabluey was praised by critics as being funny while combining elements of modern day alienationSocial alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
, American culture and commenting on the war in Iraq. It currently holds an 83% rating on 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...
.
"Kabluey" was also chosen as "NYT Critic's Pick" for July 4, 2008 by the Stephen Holden of The New York Times.
Cast
- Lisa KudrowLisa KudrowLisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends, for which she received many accolades including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards...
as Leslie Miniver - Scott Prendergast as Salman
- Teri GarrTeri Garr-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
as Suze - Christine TaylorChristine TaylorChristine Taylor-Stiller is an American actress.- Early life :Taylor was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joan, a homemaker, and Skip Taylor, an owner of a security company. She grew up in neighboring Wescosville, Pennsylvania...
as Betty Van Buskirk - Jeffrey Dean MorganJeffrey Dean MorganJeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor, best known to television and movie audiences as Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy, patriarch John Winchester on Supernatural, and as The Comedian in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen....
as Brad - Chris ParnellChris ParnellThomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
as Frank - Conchata FerrellConchata FerrellConchata Galen Ferrell is an American actress. She is best known for playing Berta the housekeeper in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, for which she received two Emmy Award nominations in 2005 and 2007.-Personal life:...
as Kathleen - Angela SarafyanAngela SarafyanAngela Sarafyan is an American actress. She is sometimes credited as Angela Sarafian.-Early life:Angela Sarafyan was born in Armenia and moved with her parents to the United States at the age of four.-Career:...
as Ramona - Patricia Buckley as Elizabeth P.
External links
- Kabluey at Scott Prendergast's website
- Official trailer at Apple.com
- What's Sad, Blue and Earns $6 an Hour? FLYP Media profile of Scott Prendergast