Fourth Man Out  (Andrew Nackman, 2015)

Fourth Man Out screens on Thursday, September 17 at Chicago's Music Box Theatre. For additional ticketing information, click here.

Charmless and politically regressive, Andrew Nackman’s debut film Fourth Man Out is a crushingly disappointing selection in Reeling’s programing; particularly as it is featured in the plum Opening Night slot of the festival.

The premise involves Adam (Evan Todd) and his attempts to navigate within his circle of hyper-masculine meathead friends after coming out. The attempts at Judd Apatow/bro-down comedy are not just labored, but offensive, as Adam’s homosexuality effectively makes him a social pariah. Nackman and first-time screenwriter Aaron Dancik opt for juvenile homophobia as comedy, illustrating a backward manner of thinking that never relents in its brainlessness. Formally, Nackman shows a degree of competence in framing as it relates to his thematic intent, but the film is largely a rinse-and-repeat of montage sequences and self-reflective yammering that show no sense of comedic ingenuity or narrative insight. Evan Todd’s agreeable performance aside, Fourth Man Out is a waste.