C.O.G.

C.O.G. claims to be the first movie adapted from the writings of essayist/humorist David Sedaris, and, unfortunately, it's a huge disappointment. Sedaris' work is wry, self-effacing, witty, and often tender; this movie is simultaneously confused, arrogant, and passive. As with almost any movie told from the point of view of a writer, the lead character is only a passive observer and isn't at all engaging. Likewise, other characters never really come to life, because we only see them from one vantage point. As for the movie's themes, it hints at the character's homosexuality but then totally ignores it and buries it until a final moment that's too little, too late. Plus, after a cynically humorous opening scene, the humor stops, the religious themes are introduced with the utmost seriousness, and finally, these, too, are just as suddenly dropped. Most disturbingly, a quasi-attempted rape is shrugged off as an awkward inconvenience. The only thing that's consistent about the movie is that none of it feels genuine.