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In the opening credits sequence of "The Incredible Jessica James," written and directed by Jim Strouse , Jessica James ( Jessica Williams ), a twentysomething aspiring playwright living in Brooklyn, dances around on her apartment roof (after having danced through the hallways and up the stairs to get there). Her dancing is wild, athletic, funny, sometimes clumsy, always exuberant. Even if you go into the film unfamiliar with Williams from her gig as a correspondent on "The Daily Show," she's an infectious and likable presence immediately. She's not trying to show you how well she can dance. She lopes around like a big kid on the first day of summer vacation. She's letting off steam, cracking herself up. This sequence announces the film's intentions: "The Incredible Jessica James" is an old-fashioned star vehicle. It doesn't have much meat to it, and it borrows from various young-artist narratives, so that in some cases you might think, "I've seen this all before." Yes. You have. But not with a leading lady like Jessica Williams. She's something else entirely.

When Jessica James talks about theatre, her face lights up from within. She believes in the transformation that live theatre and plays can provide. She believes in the power of storytelling. One wall of her apartment is covered with Playbills and posters, quotes from Lillian Hellman on scraps of paper, a wall of inspiration. Another wall is covered with rejection letters from her applications for fellowships, grants, theatre workshops, etc. It's a pretty accurate representation of the landscape of a beginning artist's life. Jessica isn't losing faith, not exactly. But the disappointments are beginning to wear her down. She makes a meager living teaching acting to kids at a local theatre company. But is that all there is? Her existential crisis is deepened by a recent breakup with a supportive boyfriend ( Keith Stanfield ). She can't get over it. Even worse, she broke up with him !

Over the course of the film, Jessica will continue to send out applications, each visit to her mailbox a journey of anticipatory heartbreak. She gets caught up in the life of one of her students, a smart sensitive girl ( Taliyah Whitaker ), whose parents' custody battle inhibits her participation in the class. (Jessica starts a confrontation with the girl's mother obnoxiously, bluntly: "Listen, Shandra's Mom ...") She goes out dancing with her best friend, an improv comedian named Tasha ( Noël Wells ). She tries to start dating again and it's mostly disastrous. A dinner with a recently-divorced guy named Boone ( Chris O'Dowd ) seems to have potential, but they're both so bruised by their former relationships that it's like there are two other people sitting at the table with them.

The relationship with Boone is really the heart of the film. The two characters are awkward, honest, funny. The first time he makes her laugh on their first date is what onscreen romance is all about. It doesn't matter that you've seen it a hundred times. You haven't seen it with these two particular people. Her "persona" is so tough and confident that it can be off-putting, slightly scary. Her laugh at his joke bursts out of that shell, and with it comes a softening, a vulnerability. There's a complexity at work there, in the writing and in the acting, an understanding that coupling up, especially once you've got some miles on you, is rarely a matter of flowers and hearts and chocolate and jewelry. People get hurt. People bring those hurts with them into the next scenario.

The film isn't without its disappointments, the main one being that Jessica is a playwright, with credits to her name, and yet we never learn anything about her writing. What are her plays about? What's the style? What kinds of stories does she tell? What play did she see or read that made her think, "This is what I want to do with my life"? She has a gigantic binder stuffed with all of her work. When Boone reads her plays, his only comment is, "You are complicated." That's it? I never doubted for a second that Jessica Williams the actress knew what her character's scripts were about. But we the audience never learn about them. The other element of the film that doesn't quite work are the fantasy sequences involving run-ins with her ex-boyfriend. Stanfield is such a versatile actor, but the "device"—clearly " Annie Hall "-ish in its intention—is too sloppily conceived to really come off.

Overall, though, these are minor complaints. What matters is watching Williams. She's not a one-trick joke machine. She's not an "attitude." She's a gifted actress, smart and vulnerable, funny and tender, unafraid to show her character's shortcomings. Nothing is difficult for Williams in acting. She never strains. It's a pleasure watching her think about things, watching her process things. "The Incredible Jessica James" works, primarily, because of its devotion to its lead actress. She's the reason why we're all there.

Before Trevor Noah took over the The Daily Show from long-time host Jon Stewart , there was a clamoring for 25-year-old correspondent Jessica Williams to get the prized spot. Williams Tweeted out in response to the groundswell of fan support: “Thank you, but I am extremely under-qualified for the job!” Her comment was greeted with disappointment, a little bit of concern-trolling, and bafflement at what was perceived as a statement of insecurity from this strong capable woman. But Williams wanted something else for herself. In a recent NY Times profile , Williams said, “I know what I’d be incredible at, and I know what I wouldn’t be as great at. I didn’t want to insert myself into that narrative to please everybody else. I was listening to my heart and making sure I honored what I was truly excellent at.” In many ways, self-knowledge is more important—and even harder to come by—than talent. Even with its flaws, "The Incredible Jessica James" is so entertaining, so touching even, that it's evidence alone that she made the right choice, the smartest choice for her multiple gifts. In years prior, Jessica Williams would have gotten roles playing funny sidekicks. Kooky best friends. Not anymore. She carries the film. She's the center of every scene.

In 1966, film critic Pauline Kael reviewed " Funny Girl ," announcing: " Barbra Streisand arrives on the screen, in 'Funny Girl', when the movies are in desperate need of her."

She could have been talking about Jessica Williams.

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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The Incredible Jessica James (2017)

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‘The Incredible Jessica James’ Is a Bold Woman in Progress

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By Nicole Herrington

• July 28, 2017

One of the best scenes in “The Incredible Jessica James” comes two-thirds of the way through the movie. Jessica, arguing with a guy she’s sort of been seeing, delivers a kiss-off: “I’m freakin’ dope.” That bold declaration not only represents a strong young woman but is also a gift for fans of the actress who plays her, Jessica Williams, the former “Daily Show” correspondent and current co-host of the “2 Dope Queens” podcast.

And yet the struggle is real for her character. Jessica James is a Brooklyn playwright going through a “weird transitional phase,” not really coping well with a recent breakup (her ex-boyfriend keeps coming to an untimely end in her dreams) and trying to remain optimistic as rejection letters from theater companies pile up. Those notices share a wall in her Bushwick apartment with Playbill covers, posters for old school productions and inspirational quotes from Lillian Hellman.

Her love of theater is deep, as witnessed in scenes with young students in a playwriting class she teaches. She bonds with one, Shandra (a delightful Taliyah Whitaker), who shows promise but is also processing the recent divorce of her parents. The snappy dialogue makes Jessica’s silly moments with the kids as well as heart-to-hearts with her friend Tasha (Noël Wells, just as charming as she was in “Master of None”) feel most lived-in and natural, even when she is asked to recommend a show for a friend of her mother’s back home in Ohio who’s “heard good things about ‘Jersey Boys.’” Jessica prefers “dialogue-driven dramas that explore the human condition.”

The director Jim Strouse wrote this movie, which began streaming Friday on Netflix, for Ms. Williams after she appeared in his 2015 film, “People Places Things.” The camera lovingly follows her on her adventures in the city, and it’s easy to see why he was inspired to give her this breakout role.

Her character’s forthrightness draws in friends and intrigues potential suitors, including the recently divorced Boone (played by a scruffy and slightly goofy Chris O’Dowd). They are complete opposites but find themselves in bed after an awkward first date. Their courtship involves an elaborate plan to break free of the obsessive cycle of stalking their exes on social media. The solution: Each will follow the other’s ex.

But this is Ms. Williams’s movie, and she owns it. (Though, with its strong ensemble — Lakeith Stanfield plays her ex — I kept thinking it could make for a smart series.) She’s a radiant, tall glass of dopeness and isn’t afraid to tell you so. And in New York City, isn’t that how the strong survive?

The Incredible Jessica James Streaming on Netflix. Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes.

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The Incredible Jessica James Reviews

Williams was actually a former correspondent on US programme The Daily Show, but has successfully made the tricky jump to acting look easy. Watch for the chance to see a young actor clearly destined for stardom.

Full Review | May 18, 2021

Williams' voracious and unapologetically non-demure performance brings the subtext to the surface. She takes over, defining herself as a star in her first lead role.

Full Review | Dec 12, 2020

A really charming way to spend 83 mins!

Full Review | Oct 8, 2020

Jessica James is kind of obnoxious, mean to her dates, and she's definitely her own biggest fan. But she's 25 and she's trying really hard.

Full Review | Sep 11, 2019

Astute, hilarious, and with an open-endedness that rings true to life, Strouse has gifted us wisdom and one hell of a leading lady in Williams.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2019

The Incredible Jessica James actually wields colorblindness in a positive way.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Nov 16, 2018

Director Jim Strouse...allows Jessica Williams' energy to shine and dominate the film - which she does with ease.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 24, 2018

The Incredible Jessica James is quite - dare I say it, incredible - for a number of reasons, an obvious one being that a strong and independent woman of color takes the helm, quirks and all, and we love her for it.

Full Review | Aug 6, 2018

This movie is surprisingly sweet, bright, and optimistic in all the right places.

Full Review | Apr 20, 2018

Cute, slight -- the very definition of "Netflixable."

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 20, 2018

The fresh, genuinely funny rom-com will make you feel a lot of things, and you'll undoubtedly emerge wishing that Williams was your best friend.

Full Review | Dec 19, 2017

Writer/director James Strouse has given us a modern comedy that is both innovative and genuine, going as far as dwelving into several comedy subgenres...

Full Review | Nov 26, 2017

There's a power in seeing a self-aware black woman on screen who simply proceeds through life like she hasn't been defeated by it, like she still feels she can make a difference, like she still believes that the world is hers.

Full Review | Sep 26, 2017

The Incredible Jessica James has more to it than what first meets the eyes, and it's so worth delving into if you've got the patience to relish in it for exactly what it is.

Full Review | Aug 29, 2017

But all along, [Jessica Williams'] presence onscreen showed something like star power. And in The Incredible Jessica James, she fulfills that promise.

Full Review | Aug 28, 2017

Unfortunately, The Incredible Jessica James isn't quite as incredible as Jessica James.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/10 | Aug 25, 2017

[Jessica] Williams is a very strong presence with energy and personality to spare--she will go far.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2017

This drama-comedy goes general when others go specific.

Full Review | Aug 11, 2017

What makes The Incredible Jessica James stand out-other than terrific performances from Williams and co-stars- is in the effort it puts towards being a romantic comedy that emphasizes the "comedy" part.

Full Review | Aug 9, 2017

Jessica Williams deserves your undivided attention. She is freakin' dope, and I can't wait to see what she does next.

Full Review | Aug 7, 2017

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‘the incredible jessica james’: film review | sundance 2017.

Jim Strouse's 'The Incredible Jessica James' is built around the charms of leading lady Jessica Williams (of 'The Daily Show') as a young playwright navigating a new romance.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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A peppy little joke machine, The Incredible Jessica James exists for the one and only reason of providing a showcase for the evident talents of its leading lady, Jessica Williams. Any random five minutes of screen time from this modest, and modestly engaging, romantic comedy provide ample evidence that this four-year Daily Show favorite has the quick wit, fast mouth, bursting energy and sufficient charisma to make the grade on the big screen, or anywhere else she puts her mind to it. On television, this sort of sharp-witted, sexually upfront, trials-of-life-in-the-big-city piece ( Master of None, Fleabag, et al.) would quickly connect with smart young viewers, but while Williams’ fans will be righteously satisfied and new ones made by this good date-night item, the target audience is still more likely to wait for it to appear on small screens than to be lured into theaters.

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Writer-director Jim Strouse has been a Sundance fixture for a decade now, beginning with Grace Is Gone and continuing with The Winning Season and People Places Things, the latter of which featured Williams in a supporting role. Strouse wrote the new film for the actress, and she blasts through it like a force of nature that will not be denied despite the fact that her character, a playwright named Jessica, spends most of her time being rejected, both professionally and personally, the latter due to a breakup with her great love Damon ( LaKeith Stanfield ).

The Bottom Line An amiable vehicle for a rising star.

With a pile of hair, nose ring, assertive physicality and a verbal channel that has no off button, Jessica, from the size of her notebook, would seem to have already written more plays than Ibsen. But as no one has yet confirmed her own high opinion of her craft, she’s stuck teaching at a non-profit children’s theater program in New York City and coping with the usual challenges of life in the big city.

Atop those issues, of course, is sex, a subject Jessica is adept at talking about as well as practicing. When she meets the quasi-dorky sad sack Boone (Chris O’Dowd ), it wouldn’t appear that this pasty Irishman and black firecracker are fated for a momentous encounter between the sheets.

But this seemingly ill-matched pair end up striking some sparks (more like lightning bolts, it seems) after all, and some of the best writing and performing here involve the way both of these characters are perpetually on the edge of uncertainty about what they think of and want from each other; they could go either way, take it or leave it, and how they both handle it says a lot for taking the dive rather than sitting it out.

Although the film skips along at a brisk pace, there’s scant narrative; Jessica suffers through a visit to her ultra-straight parents’ home in Ohio, prepares her young charges for an out-of-town writers’ workshop weekend while struggling to get her star pupil’s stern mother to allow it and endures periodic forlorn attempts by Damon to regain her attention, all the while hoping for her big break. Boone has his own problems but sticks around, with O’Dowd , despite limited screen time, making him into an immensely likeable character adroit at sneaky mood shifts.

But The Incredible Jessica James cannot be mistaken for anything other than Williams’ calling-card movie, and she lays her abilities out there for all to see: high energy, eruptive humor, vaunting ambition, considerable ego, a nimble mood gearshift box and an endless belief in her own talent. She’s got a lot to offer, the door’s been opened, and now we’ll see what she does with it.

Production company: Beachside Productions Cast: Jessica Williams, Chris O’Dowd , Lakeith Stanfield , Noel Wells, Zabryna Guerara , Taliyah Whitaker, Sarah Jones, Will Stephen, Susan Heyward , Megan Ketch Director-screenwriter: Jim Strouse Producers: Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub Executive producers: Jessica Williams, Kerri Hundley Director of photography: Sean McElwee Production designer: Nora Mendis Costume designer: Amanda Ford Music: Keegan DeWitt Casting: Jessica Kelly, Kate Geller Venue: Sundance Film Festival (Premieres)

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The incredible jessica james, common sense media reviewers.

Crisp, star-driven romcom has sexual content, cursing.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Promotes thinking big, pride in oneself, being ope

Heroine is audacious, confident, imaginative, a te

Two imaginary (comic) accidental deaths: a fall, a

Couples in bed together: foreplay, making love (no

Swearing and profanity: "f--k," "s-

Wine, champagne in social situations.

Parents need to know that The Incredible Jessica James is a grown-up romantic comedy with lots of sexual situations, racy language, and mature themes. The movie is a star-making turn for Jessica Williams, one of the premier "correspondents" on The Daily Show when Jon Stewart was at the helm…

Positive Messages

Promotes thinking big, pride in oneself, being open to new experiences, and moving forward after heartbreak. Jessica's mantra: "Hey, everybody, guess what? This is your one and only life. What do you want to tell people about it?"

Positive Role Models

Heroine is audacious, confident, imaginative, a terrific teacher and role model for the kids she teaches. She shows remarkable determination, refusing to give up when faced with obstacles in her path. Her vulnerability is sometimes disguised by an in-your-face attitude. Also, a bit of a snob, condescending to her family. Portrays a stereotypical Midwestern family. Ethnically diverse.

Violence & Scariness

Two imaginary (comic) accidental deaths: a fall, a man is crushed.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Couples in bed together: foreplay, making love (no nudity, no intense sexual activity), cuddling after sex. Lots of conversations about sex. References to masturbation, oral sex, vibrators, anal sex.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Swearing and profanity: "f--k," "s--t," "balls," "a--hole." Sexual conversations: "want to bone?" "smell your panties," "booty call."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Incredible Jessica James is a grown-up romantic comedy with lots of sexual situations, racy language, and mature themes. The movie is a star-making turn for Jessica Williams, one of the premier "correspondents" on The Daily Show when Jon Stewart was at the helm. With a recognizable story given a fresh lift from Williams, viewers can expect to hear lots of sexual references and jokes. There's no actual nudity, only suggested, and no dramatically intense sexual encounters. Words like "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole" and phrases like "want to bone?" and "booty call" are sprinkled in, along with references to oral sex, masturbation, menstruation, and sex toys. Characters drink adult beverages in some social scenes, no drunkenness. A funny debut leading role for this strong female actor-comedian should appeal to adults and mature teens. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

Breakups are always hard, and the heroine in THE INCREDIBLE JESSICA JAMES is struggling. A determined and hard-working playwright who gets rejection notices from theater companies as well as from her ex, Jessica (Jessica Williams) covers her fragility with a quick wit, in-your-face honesty, and an (almost) invincible spirit. Her best post-split moments come from teaching. Jessica's good at it, and the city kids in her theater class are lucky to have her. Being fixed up with Boone ( Chris O'Dowd ), a newly divorced computer guy who's got his own issues with being single, is a mixed blessing. He's sexy, funny, and just about as frank as she is, but they're both still recovering. Any steps forward in their relationship seem to come with two steps back. Jessica's fantasizing about her old boyfriend doesn't help matters. So it requires some tricky maneuvering, along with a little luck, for Jessica to get to a place where she just might be open to the next good thing.

Is It Any Good?

The spirited, wholly original Jessica Williams turns a familiar setup and story into a special event with her agility, intelligence, and ability to play a vanity-free role with gusto. Luckily, Chris O'Dowd has just what it takes to charm her, and the audience, and their chemistry is terrific. Williams struts and storms, laughs and dances The Incredible Jessica James right into your heart. And, the beauty of Williams dancing is that she's not great at it, but, wow, is she willing. It's not a perfect film. One could find fault with the lapses into comic stereotype, particularly in the scenes with the leading lady headed back to her hometown, but why bother? It doesn't really distract from the whole. With wonderful performances, great comic timing, and even a generous helping of heartstring tugs, the movie should appeal to a wide audience. Mature, with lots of sexual situations and references.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie term "star turn." What does it mean? The Incredible Jessica James was written for Jessica Williams. What about the actress makes her special? Do you think the movie will affect her career? How?

Jessica James is a unique school teacher. What are some of the qualities and behaviors that make her so effective? How can those qualities and behaviors transfer to personal social interaction as well?

Talk about the contrasts that may exist between sexual scenes in comedies and in dramas. Is there a difference in the mood the director intends to create? How does that mood affect the response the director is hoping for?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : July 28, 2017
• Cast : Jessica Williams , Chris O'Dowd , Noel Wells , LaKeith Stanfield
• Director : James C. Strouse
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Latino actors, Middle Eastern/North African actors
• Studio : Netflix
• Genre : Comedy
• Topics : Arts and Dance , Great Girl Role Models
• Character Strengths : Perseverance
• Run time : 85 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 18, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Sundance Film Review: ‘The Incredible Jessica James’

Jessica Williams shines in writer-director Jim Strouse's love letter to his leading lady.

By Geoff Berkshire

Geoff Berkshire

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Some people are born to be movie stars, and “The Incredible Jessica James” successfully makes that case for leading lady Jessica Williams . Best known as a former correspondent for “The Daily Show,” the assertive actress commands every frame of a vehicle that feels built to transport her to even bigger and better things to come. It’s the sort of ingratiating crowdpleaser that would’ve sparked a modest bidding war at past Sundance festivals. But even in a less frenzied atmosphere, the film (which serves as this year’s closing night selection, yet screened for press on day one) should be able to land a distributor savvy enough to maximize its commercial appeal.

It almost feels like a throwback to see a breakout star headline a modest relationship comedy for the indie film crowd at a time when many of Williams’ peers are making their mark on the more expansive canvas of television. Any contemporary film about a young woman navigating life in a big city is going to draw comparisons to Lena Dunham’s “Girls” and Issa Rae’s “Insecure,” and there are even nods, intentional or not, to Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” and Aziz Ansari’s “Master of None” in the casting of co-stars Lakeith Stanfield and Noël Wells.

But instead of screwing with or straight-up demolishing conventions in the style of any of those series, writer-director Jim Strouse (“Grace Is Gone,” “The Winning Season”) places Williams at the center of a thoroughly conventional indie narrative — trusting his star’s sensibility to freshen up otherwise stale scenarios.

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Fortunately, Williams delivers on every count. Smart, funny, and beautiful, she’s a force of nature who carries herself with more than just confidence; she’s got a fully justified swagger. As she tells smitten suitor Boone (Chris O’Dowd) at one point: “Of course you [like me]. Everybody does. I’m freaking dope.” That Williams sells that line without even a threat of losing the audience’s trust is a measure of how far she can go as an actress.

Of course there’s more to “Jessica James” than just Jessica Williams being freaking dope. But not that much. Williams’ eponymous heroine is a frustrated 25-year-old playwright, who lives in “deep Bushwick” and indulges her love of theater by helping public school kids write and stage scenes for a nonprofit. She’s also struggling to get over a bad breakup with her boyfriend of two years (Stanfield), when her best friend (Wells) sets up a blind date with app designer Boone.

He still carries a torch for his ex-wife (Megan Ketch), but the mutual heartbreak and penchant for real talk he shares with Jessica leads to a string of sexual encounters and a budding romance. At the same time, she makes steady progress in her professional life, be it an encouraging rejection letter or a fateful meeting with her Tony-winning idol Sarah Jones (playing herself).

“Jessica James” dips its toe into a lot of different waters — breakup movie, rom-com, buddy picture, career-girl comedy — but never takes a full plunge. Instead the thrill is all in watching Williams own the screen, and find moments to hang loose with equally likable costars O’Dowd, Stanfield, and Wells.

It’s too bad the movie is too lightweight to give us a real sense of James’ voice as a playwright — there’s ample time spent with the kids she mentors, which only ratchets up the cutesy quotient, and not enough on the character as a writer — but at least Williams’ own voice comes through loud and clear. If nothing else, Strouse, who had worked with Williams in a smaller role in “People Places Things,” knows how to capture his star’s unique rhythms and infectious appeal.

Visually the film falls in line with Strouse’s previous low-key character pieces, although an energetic opening dance number featuring Williams freestyling solo in her apartment sets a higher aesthetic bar the rest of movie can’t touch.

Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (premieres, closer), Jan. 19, 2017. Running time: 83 MIN.

• Production: A Beachside production. Producers: Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub. Executive producers: Jessica Williams, Kerri Hundley.
• Crew: Director, writer: Jim Strouse. Camera (color): Sean McElwee. Editors: Jesse Gordon, Mollie Goldstein.
• With: Jessica Williams, Chris O'Dowd, Noël Wells, Lakeith Stanfield, Taliyah Whitaker, Zabryna Guevara, Sarah Jones, Megan Ketch.

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The Joy of The Incredible Jessica James

James C. Strouse’s movie is a predictable romantic comedy elevated by an incandescent star.

The Incredible Jessica James , which debuted Friday on Netflix, has a title that feels better suited to a Marvel drama than a romantic comedy. And Jessica (Jessica Williams) would make an extremely compelling superhero, endowed as she is with mighty powers of snark, bravado, and withering disdain. Within the movie’s spry 85 minutes, she vanquishes a manspreader on the subway with barely the tilt of an eyebrow, crushes an ex with a piano (in a dream sequence, but even so), and reduces a Tinder date to a puddle of shame and self-loathing. (“I would literally rather have my period nonstop for a thousand years than have this portion of the conversation,” is one of her gentler comebacks.)

In the hands of a less charismatic actress, Jessica could easily be intolerable. But Williams, the 27-year-old former Daily Show correspondent and co-host of the podcast 2 Dope Queens , is so charming that she elevates a perfectly predictable rom-com into a blast. Written and directed by James C. Strouse, who devised the project explicitly for Williams after working with her on 2015’s People Places Things , the movie is gentle and surprisingly sweet, relying on its star’s undeniable magnetism and rhetorical ingenuity. Between the bold, cartoon-typeface title cards, the one-woman dance parties, and the elaborately staged daydreams, there are times when it feels like a raunchy Lizzie McGuire update, only with a much more compelling character at the helm.

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At the beginning of the movie, Jessica, a frustrated playwright, is living in “deepest Bushwick,” recovering from a breakup with Damon (Lakeith Stanfield), and attempting to get her work staged by any theater in New York that will consider it (every rejection letter gets taped neatly on her wall). After a less than enticing date with a Tinder prospect who mimics her vernacular (“totes preesh”), her best friend, Tasha (Noël Wells) sets her up with Boone (Chris O’Dowd), a shuffling sadsack of a divorcé who initially seems like sexual Kryptonite. Jessica goes home with him anyway. And what starts as a mutual breakup affirmation society (they unfollow their exes together but follow each other’s so they can keep abreast of updates) turns into a strangely satisfying relationship.

The movie’s energy goes up and down, and there are times when it feels like scenes could have used an extra take or two. But Williams is a gifted enough actress to poke holes in Jessica’s swagger so her insecurities peek through. She refers to herself as a “unicorn,” insists to a roomful of women at a baby shower that they have to subvert the patriarchal paradigm, and tells Boone that she’s “frigging dope.” But she’s also creatively frustrated, teaching theater writing to a group of admittedly adorable kids in Hell’s Kitchen and squealing over a rejection simply because the correspondent bothered to read one of her plays. “This is theater, Shandra,” she tells one of her students in a faux-plummy baritone. “We don’t have to do any of this. We do it simply because we must .”

This isn’t to say Williams can carry the movie entirely by herself. Her chemistry with Boone is intermittent at best, and his lackadaisical appeal owes more to O’Dowd’s reliable congeniality than to Boone’s depth as a character. The movie’s twists and turns often feel extracted from Screenwriting for Dummies. Jessica’s angst isn’t entirely persuasive, although the movie makes a little effort to explore her childhood and how she feels like an oddball among her more conventional family members. But The Incredible Jessica James ’s frequent, zingy quips and its understated, realistic portrayal of 21st-century romance make it an engaging way to spend an hour and a half. If nothing else, it’s a real pleasure just to spend so much time in Williams’s company, and watch her star rightfully ascend.

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The incredible jessica james: a quirky indie with its own identity.

I'm Alice. I'm a writer, blogger, film nerd, determined dreamer,…

Upon watching the opening scenes of The Incredible Jessica James , I was neither notably impressed or unimpressed, because it seemed like the atypical introduction of your average comedy. But as the rest of the story unfurled and I learnt more about the purpose of Jessica’s identity, it truly struck a sense of cinematic importance.

As is always said, first impressions are everything; and the general synopsis doesn’t particularly help in buttering up initial inklings of what it might be like. In short, it tells the story of an aspiring playwright in New York who strikes up a friendship with a guy while on the rebound from a breakup. This suggests that the movie is your standard romantic comedy with a few decent one-liners and some tacky aerial shots of the New York skyline. However, this Netflix original has a bit more to it than what it may give away at its exterior surface.

At its core, The Incredible Jessica James  opens up an entirely new perspective of what this style of comedy can achieve. The obvious early themes of friendship, lost love, a sassy female lead and millennial technology are quickly wiped out and replaced with critical thinking, cultural movements, and intelligent questions that could leave even the smartest audience perplexed.

The Importance Of Identity

Director  Jim Strouse  has cleverly created a film centred around the modern era of dating that many of us are all too familiar with – and it’s a hit in more ways than one.

Jessica’s first attempt to bounce back from her break-up is by going on a Tinder date, with the hope that her ex shows up and sees them together. In one short conversation during her date, Jessica provides a critique on dating services and then calls out the shameful ridiculousness in the hookup culture that is evermore popular among young adults.

Instagram is also heavily featured in the film, which shows us just how much social media has become a huge part of our relationships and daily life. By putting an emphasis on apps like this,  The Incredible Jessica James  is a much more believable story that also gives some witty commentary on today’s society and its adoration of social media.

But more important than this is the emphasis on having an opinion and a belief in something that the rest of the world may not understand. Jessica is the leader in this trend, regularly airing her sentiments about the culture we live in to her family, best friend, and even strangers. This, more than anything, is what makes this film so irrevocably distinctive. It paves the way for anyone who watches it to assess their own identity and ask themselves the big questions; which is a hugely powerful achievement for a condensed comedy.

Wasted Opportunity

Despite the strong underlining messages and the ‘food for thought’ techniques, The Incredible   Jessica James  isn’t perfect. Unfortunately, the film does fall flat with its failure to make the most of Williams ‘ comedic prowess. In other words, there just aren’t generally a great deal of laugh-out-loud moments. 

What is satisfactory, however, is the type of sense of humour going on within the story. It only takes a matter of seconds in the opening scene to know that Jessica is a bit of an oddball, with a unique talent for blunt sarcasm and comical scrutiny. This is consistent throughout, and although sometimes reflected as a bit too hostile, makes a refreshing change to the safe comedy we regularly encounter in cinemas.

The problem with this is that there are frequent instances where the script is simply trying too hard to be funnier than it is. Because of this, there are a few scenes that could have been developed much further; and as the film is a mere short-lived 85 minutes in length, it’s evident that there was a lot of room for growth in these areas.

That being said, there are still many convincing moments of tenderness between Jessica and her new beau Boone – a recent divorcée played somewhat predictably by Chris O’Dowd – and in her interactions with the kids she’s tasked with coaching as part of her job working at a nonprofit children’s theatre program.

It’s in these moments that we see another dimension to Jessica and discover that she has a lot more to her than just a sharp tongue, wacky dance moves, and charismatic confidence.

A One Woman Show

Feisty behaviour aside, The Incredible Jessica James  is special for one very specific reason:  Jessica Williams .

In just 85 minutes, the former Daily Show correspondent proves that being a front-runner doesn’t need to involve stunts, gimmicks, or being a clichéd sex symbol.

Without being over the top, unlikable or dramatised, she manages to elevate a perfectly predictable comedy into a total blast. She’s relatable in all the best ways, unlike a lot of modern day female leading ladies. She’s charming, quirky, quick-witted and unapologetically strong-willed. Although performances from Chris O’Dowd, Lakeith Stanfield and Noël Wells  are equally as pleasant, she completely steals the show without even trying to.

Contrary to the journey of many other female characters in movies of this type, Jessica James knows exactly who she is; and even the people closest to her are completely unable to destroy her spirit or break through her barriers when it comes to her persona. She shows absolutely zero remorse for her lack of empathy towards people, and not once does she hint that she’ll stop standing up for what she believes in. These are all traits that the cinema needs for a female lead who is unsupported by a fellow actor of the same standard. Even in spite of her brutal comebacks and godawful sense of style, I cannot praise her portrayal of Jessica enough, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

The Incredible Jessica James  In A Nutshell

Even if stripped-back comedies aren’t your cup of tea, Jessica Williams will be. This is a movie that has more to it than what first meets the eyes, and it’s so worth delving into if you’ve got the patience and the understanding to relish in it for exactly what it is.

Which Netflix original movie stands out most for you? Let us know in the comments!

The Incredible Jessica James is now streaming on Netflix .

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Jessica Williams Shines Brightly In Netflix’s ‘The Incredible Jessica James’

Jessica Williams fills up a space like the glow of a megawatt bulb. The former Daily Show correspondent has been gifted the lead in Netflix’s demi-eponymous The Incredible Jessica James , a romantic comedy that writer-director Jim Strouse has assembled in her honor like a temple to Helios. It’s Williams’ first real movie role (cameos like Jamaican Damsel, Coffee Shop Crier, and African-American Spa Worker don’t count) and she transitions from TV to film at light-speed, glorying in the extra room. The 6-foot-tall comedian, a tornado of tie-dyed denim and gorgeous, charm-decorated dreads, grooves across the screen with her arms flung open as if she’s ready to fly.

Look out if you’re another actor in the scene. Her newly single New York playwright Jessica James wants to do all the talking, preferably about herself, with breaks only to applaud her brave honesty. “I’m standing in my own truth,” she insists to best friend Tasha (Noël Wells) when Jessica’s narcissism risks getting them both fired from a catering gig. More like she’s spraying her truth on bystanders, most of whom are too awed to duck, from her still-raw ex Damon (the great Lakeith Stanfield, this generation’s James Dean) to the neighbor whose laundry she throws in the stairwell just because the flying fabric fit her dance-party-of-one.

Jessica’s boorishness shows how hard Strouse tried to write his star a complicated part. But Williams is so charismatic, her character’s rudeness barely registers. Instead, the actress has to show Jessica recognizing her faults before we do. Two beats after she tosses the stranger’s clothes, Williams grimaces. Whoops. And right after she insults Damon, Williams glances down. The mean quips make her electric. The regret makes her human. Williams’ skill at both makes her a serious talent.

How do you make a rom com when there’s not enough oxygen for two people? By pairing matter with anti-matter and setting Jessica up with her opposite: a soft-spoken, middle-aged Irish divorcee named Boone (Chris O’Dowd). They’re a bizarre match. She works for a non-profit kids theater. He invents apps. She’s in Bushwick. He’s spying on his ex-wife’s posh Manhattan digs. She karaokes. He windsurfs. The script parses every clash down to coffee versus tea, leaving only their most visible difference, skin color, unmentioned. (The jokes spring from their personalities, not ’90s stand-up cliches.)

All Jessica and Boone have in common are their awful recent break-ups and their mutual astonishment that they’re still in the same room. On their blind meet-up, Jessica tells Boone that he reminds her Damon—technically, “how much of him you’re not.” Ouch. But Boone doesn’t take the date, and by extension, the diss, seriously. “Cool,” he shrugs. Or really, “Coougglllhh,” the sound of a spirit squeezing out of a Dublin grave and wandering off to haunt someone else.

O’Dowd hasn’t had a role this good since his sweetheart cop chased Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids . He’s made to woo diamond-sharp women—his humor curls around to show them off like a ring. Where Williams’ Jessica never thinks before she talks, he pauses between each word. His delivery is so hesitant, he seems to invent punchlines on the spot. O’Dowd’s ambling charm is a credit to Strouse’s direction, but I wouldn’t blame the director if he grumbled it might make audiences mistake his terrific zingers for improv.

Bad romantic comedies busy themselves inventing excuses to keep their couple apart. Good ones focus on where their couple connects. In The Incredible Jessica James , the question isn’t just where, but why bother? Especially when Boone sums up their first date as, “interesting, like, in an anthropological way.” But Boone and Jessica take each other so trivially that they allow themselves to get honest—not just Jessica’s navel-gazing rants, but real honesty, the kind she can’t even have with her midwestern family, a house of normals who look at her like a space alien that claims to come from their planet.

Strouse goes for the easy joke when Jessica flies home to Ohio for her younger sister’s baby shower with doom metal thundering over shots of chocolate-filled diapers. Yet, he’s making a quieter point. Jessica doesn’t belong here. Even when she tries to blend, allowing her sister to pick her clothes and smooth over her death-to-the-patriarchy quips, she has to build her own life far away from here. In the sequence’s last scene, Jessica’s family crowds onto a couch to watch a Hallmark movie. She can’t squeeze in. Instead, Jessica stands behind the snugglers in the darkness, torn between being glad she doesn’t fit, and wondering how much easier life would be if she could. After a weekend in suburbia, you get why she gives Boone another go.

“I think it’s really dangerous to seek personal fulfillment through romantic relationships,” commands Jessica in her opening scene. Still, the movie wants her to have love, and everything else too. Strouse can’t resist giving his leading lady everything she wants: a star-making role in a screenplay that ends like a burst of confetti. He’s in such a hurry to get there that the romance is rushed and the secondary subplots pass by like blurs. Were we supposed to care about her students’ big recital? About Tasha’s acting career? As compelling as Williams is, that hollowness makes The Incredible Jessica James feel less like a meal and more like an aperitif to get us hungry for what she and Strouse whip up next. They know you’ll be there. As Jessica grins, “I’m frigging dope!”

The Incredible Jessica James will be released on Netflix on July 28.

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The Incredible Jessica James review – Netflix swipes right at romcom, with tepid results

Daily Show and 2 Dope Queens star Jessica Williams navigates the tricky world of online dating aided by Chris O’Dowd in an amiable if underwhelming comedy

J essica Williams is the 27-year-old actor and comedian who has guested on HBO’s Girls , been the youngest correspondent on The Daily Show and now co-hosts a hugely admired comedy podcast: 2 Dope Queens with Phoebe Robinson. Now comes this Netflix feature showcase for her as both star and executive producer – written and directed by Jim Strouse, who with Jemaine Clement co-created the 2015 comedy People Places Things , in which Williams had a role.

It has to be said that this is a pretty underwhelming, very conventional romcom vehicle for Williams, who plays a single woman in Brooklyn who is funny, smart, vulnerable, etc, etc. She is getting over a breakup, finding real – if intermittent – fulfilment in teaching theatre to kids, but agonising about her dream of being a dramatist, and obsessing about the guy she broke up with, the sleepily cool Damon, played by Lakeith Stanfield. Her character’s name is changed to Jessica James, maybe because of the badass resemblance to outlaw Jesse James. As the lead, Jessica has undoubtedly stylishness and charisma, but she is often a bit cold and ungenerous, and is marooned in a movie that often just isn’t all that funny.

Jessica goes on a date – a real date, set up by a friend, not a Tinder date, which is shorthand for everything superficial and hilariously meaningless – and she finds herself seated opposite an older Irish guy named Boone, played by Chris O’Dowd , who since Bridesmaids has perhaps become the go-to guy for unthreatening yet sexily rumpled romantic realness. Boone has supposedly got rich from designing an app that generates automatic messages to your loved ones through monitoring their news on social media. It is a script idea that is neither funny nor convincing.

Jessica and Boone kind of hit it off, in a quirky and self-aware way, but it is awkward and tricky because of their respective ex-partners. Boone is divorced from an award-winning food photographer.

Jessica suggests they neutralise their obsessions by unfollowing their exes on Instagram and getting each other to follow them instead, just reporting any relevant news, a kind of Strangers on a Train approach that is actually quite funny. Jessica also journeys home to Ohio for her sister’s baby shower, included in the film to show her sister’s conservatism and her folks’ heartbreakingly lovable affection and support for her life choices.

And so the movie trundles on, with Jessica making a breakthrough with her teaching and her relationship with Boone progressing. She even gets a career opportunity that is not very different from Mariel Hemingway’s at the end of Woody Allen’s Manhattan.

The Incredible Jessica James is easygoing and amiable, a trad romcom-lite, but with nothing much in the way of material and nothing like as relaxed and funny as Williams’ podcast 2 Dope Queens .

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‘The Incredible Jessica James’ Review: Jessica Williams Makes a Bid For Movie Stardom — Sundance 2017

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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Who wouldn’t want to build an entire film around the breakout charms of Jessica Williams ? That must have been the thought that crossed filmmaker Jim Strouse’s mind when he cast her in his 2015 Sundance premiere “People Places Things,” in which the former “Daily Show” correspondent stole every single scene she appeared in (no small feat, considering the film afforded Williams her biggest role yet, and she was cast alongside other charmers like Jemaine Clement and Regina Hall). For Strouse’s next feature, he’s — quite smartly — turned his full attention to Williams, who makes a bold bid for movie stardom as the centerpiece of “ The Incredible Jessica James .”

The film will likely feel familiar to fans of Strouse’s brand of quirky humor, the kind that doesn’t shy away from using big problems — divorce, infidelity, professional failure — to earn both its laughs and relatability. But it’s Williams who pushes the material to a higher register, if only by the sheer force of her talent and charm. If you’re going to build an entire film around one actor, Williams is a pretty safe bet.

READ MORE: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, And News Story From The Fest

“You’re kind of an annoying person, aren’t you?” a peripheral character asks the so-called incredible Jessica Jones about halfway through the feature, just as Jessica is perhaps at her worst. Jessica concedes that she is indeed, but that’s only half the story — she’s also honest, forthright, headstrong and stubborn as hell, and it’s nearly impossible not to like her and her special kind of perseverance.

A floundering playwright who pays her bills by teaching kids theater — an endeavor that she never treats like a second-string assignment — Jessica may have big dreams, but she’s remarkably pragmatic in her approach. Her “deep, deep,  deep  Bushwick” apartment has walls lined with rejection letters, and adding a new one to their ranks has become something of an everyday occurrence. But Jessica is undeterred — if anything, her stumbles have only made her more fully  herself.

“The Incredible Jessica James” opens with Jessica hilariously mucking through a Tinder date, in which she shocks her gobsmacked suitor by declaring that “drinking is basic AF” (the date takes place at a bar), upbraiding him for deploying the world’s worst pickup line over text (“Wanna bone?”) and using him to make her ex-boyfriend (an always-welcome Lakeith Stanfield) jealous. Jessica is a whirlwind, and that’s essentially the plot of the film, one that manages to meander despite its slim 85-minute runtime.

Heartbroken over her breakup with Damon (Stanfield), Jessica attempts to get back on her feet through her work and a mostly ill-concieved date with the recently divorced Boone (Chris O’Dowd), who is just as emotionally screwed up as she is. While the pair doesn’t instantly spark to each other, they find a shared interest in honesty (and, yes, as hammy as that sounds, Williams and O’Dowd sell the hell out of it) that keeps pulling them together, even as their pasts threaten to pull them apart. As heavy as that might sound on paper, Strouse keeps a light touch, and Williams’ mega-watt personality keeps things increasingly amusing.

READ MORE: ‘Dayveon’ Review: Amman Abbasi’s Debut Pulls A Powerful Coming-Of-Age Story From The Rural Heart Of Arkansas

“The Incredible Jessica James” premiered in the Premieres section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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Summary Jessica James (Jessica Williams), an aspiring playwright in New York City, is trying hard to get over a recent breakup with her boyfriend. She sees light at the end of the tunnel when she meets Boone (Chris O’Dowd), who's also recovering from a recent break-up. Together, they figure out a way to make it through the tough times, while als ... Read More

Directed By : Jim Strouse

Written By : Jim Strouse

The Incredible Jessica James

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The Incredible Jessica James (2017)

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The Incredible Jessica James

Jessica james is an aspiring playwright in nyc and while trying to get over recent break-up meets boone who is also in a similar boat. forming an unlikely friendship, the two of them try to figure out how they make it through their post-relationship lives. for those who also liked friends from college and catching feelings..

A really lovely independent movie starring the wonderful Jessica Williams as Jessica James, a 25 year old aspiring playwright living in New York who is trying to figure out her life. It's more modern twist on a romantic comedy that follows Jessica on her life's path soon after she breaks up with her boyfriend after a two year relationship. We first meet her on a tinder date and get the measure of her pretty quickly. Jessica doesn't suffer fools gladly and swerves the mushy sentiment of happily ever after preferring to be more pragmatic about what life really has to offer.

Still consumed by her ex-boyfriend she embarks on a blind date that her best friend sets up and what emerges is an unusual friendship with Boone, played by Chris O'Dowd. What makes this really really good is that the conversation and the way it's scripted and acted could be straight out of a real life date. There's no soft focus, coy hair twirling or cute flirting that we tend to see in most rom coms these days. And it's a welcome change. In fact the interaction between Williams and O'Dowd is just great and the progression of their relationship really hits the mark and pops off the screen.

Of course the entire story isn't about the two of them. It charters Jessica James' attempts to become a playwright as she teaches acting and writing classes for kids and faces rejection after rejection from the theatres she would love to work with. Throw in an awkward family occasion at her sister's baby shower and Jessica starts to realise that not everything in life is as defined as she first thought and that maybe the very things in life she was running away from are actually the things she wants.

I really enjoyed this. It was very real in the way it looked at life from a lot of different perspectives. Fresh out of a relationship, or a divorce, or a child caught up in a custody battle or somebody simply looking for direction in life and having the courage to stick with what hasn't quite worked out yet, it was more real than most hollywood rom-coms and quite rightly deserves that positive reviews it received on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

• Jessica Williams
• Chris O'Dowd
• A Little Slow In Places

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The Incredible Jessica James only works because of the incredible Jessica Williams

The sorta-rom-com will make you love its star, forget its story.

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The Incredible Jessica James is ostensibly a romantic comedy, loosely centered on a nascent relationship between its titular star, played by stand-up comedian and former The Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams, and a recent divorcee played by Chris O’Dowd. But what it actually is is a hangout film , that Tarantino-coined term for movies whose primary appeal is the opportunity to spend time in the presence of likable, compelling characters, no matter the action going on around them.

The term is often relegated to the realm of ensemble films ( Dazed and Confused being the go-to example), but in the case of this movie, it’s more of a one-on-one hang, between the viewer and one Jessica James, a struggling New York playwright who’s trying to get past a recent breakup.

On paper, that characterization sounds entirely unremarkable — oh boy, another Sundance darling about a struggling and/or broken-hearted New York artist! But in Williams’s hands, Jessica James becomes a diamond-sharp protagonist, and the only defining feature of an otherwise formless movie.

The Incredible Jessica James is powered by one extremely charismatic performance, and not much else

Thankfully, The Incredible Jessica James seems to know where its strengths lie, and doesn’t attempt to expand beyond its protagonist’s immediate perspective. Not only does this prevent the svelte 85-minute movie from overstaying its welcome (something many modern comedies could stand to emulate), but it keeps the focus on Williams, who is pretty much the only thing animating writer-director James Strouse’s otherwise stagnant tale of personal and professional growth.

Okay, in fairness, Jessica James has some other bright spots in its cast, particularly O’Dowd, doing his familiar but effective hangdog-paramour thing, and Lakeith Stanfield as Jessica’s ex, who shows up mostly in fantasy/dream sequences as a sort of avatar of Jessica’s subconscious. But they feel like accessories to the main event that is Jessica James, a funny and forthright ball of confidence who seems to exist in perpetual limbo between cynicism and optimism.

Jessica’s a playwright who’s never had any of her work produced in New York, a bleak track record that doesn’t stop her from finding comfort in a personalized rejection letter, instead of the standard form letter, or from encouraging young kids to love theater via her work with a nonprofit. Nor does she let her failed relationship with Stanfield’s Damon, or a subsequent string of cringe-y Tinder dates/booty calls, deter her from saying yes to a seemingly ill-advised setup with O’Dowd’s Boone.

Boone is an app developer who seemingly couldn’t have less in common with Jessica. And when their terrible first date improbably leads to something more, there’s the sense that it’s less the result of an inextinguishable spark between the pair, and more just another example of Jessica’s commitment to keep barreling ahead in life, to hell with whatever obstacles she may encounter along the way.

Jessica’s confidence in the face of a world that seems determined to beat her down is her defining characteristic, and Williams conveys it beautifully in her performance. Williams’s forthrightness and poise in the role make Jessica’s penchant for brutal honesty feel bold and refreshing, rather than like a mean-spirited defense mechanism, and her standup-honed comedic timing brings life to otherwise stale interactions (particularly those between Jessica and her young students). Jessica isn’t invulnerable, nor is she without flaws, but she’s so damn assured of herself that it’s a pleasure just to witness her radiance, to imagine living a life with so little shame or artifice.

The problem is that Jessica James, and by extension Jessica James, doesn’t have a distinctive arc. Things are sort of tough for Jessica, then they’re sort of not — there’s no development or build to give the movie shape. It’s more a series of vignettes charting a loose course toward a conclusion that seems designed to subvert expectations, but fails to do so because the movie doesn’t really do much to establish those expectations in the first place. The story lopes along from one funny and/or touching interaction to the next, but Jessica remains more or less unchanged throughout. This gives the sense that her getting past the struggles she’s facing is less a matter of her changing as a person, and more a matter of her simply waiting things out until time, and perhaps a little good luck, brings closure.

That very well may be the point: A lot of life’s problems do tend to just resolve themselves in time, particularly heartbreak, and it’s certainly possible to find success without fundamentally changing as a person. And why would someone as obviously incredible as Jessica James need to change, anyway? Sometimes life just sort of happens , it’s not always a series of life-defining incidents — surely there’s something to be said for a story that seems to recognize that?

And there is something to be said for it: For all its shapelessness, The Incredible Jessica James is often a damn good hang, an excuse to spend some time with a character far more compelling than the movie she anchors. But that very quality is also what makes The Incredible Jessica James far less compelling and memorable than its title character and Williams herself.

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Summer movies 2017

• Atomic Blonde is thrilling, gorgeous nonsense. More, please!
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• Do not see The Emoji Movie
• War for the Planet of the Apes is the summer’s most essential blockbuster
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• A Ghost Story was one of Sundance’s most buzzed-about films. It earns the hype.
• The Hitman's Bodyguard has all the makings of a fun summer hit. What makes it so dull?
• Ingrid Goes West, starring Aubrey Plaza as an Instagram addict, is deliciously twisted
• Logan Lucky puts a West Virginia spin on an Ocean’s 11-style heist. It’s terrific fun.
• The Glass Castle turns a best-selling memoir into a moving but flawed film
• Detroit, about one of the biggest riots in US history, is hard to watch. That’s a good thing.
• Wind River is an intense and painful thriller set on a Native American reservation
• Girls Trip is a filthy, hilarious gem
• Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets has too much Valerian, too little Thousand Planets
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• The Big Sick is one of the year’s best comedies, but it doesn’t shy away from heavy topics
• Netflix’s To the Bone doesn’t glamorize eating disorders. It’s frank, funny, and unsparing.
• Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming is the best superhero movie of 2017
• In Netflix's fantastic, wacky Okja, it's Tilda Swinton vs. superpig
• Despicable Me 3 is everything good and bad about the franchise in one messy package
• Edgar Wright’s wildly entertaining Baby Driver is a lean, mean, genre-smashing machine
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James McAvoy Faces a Family Trip From Hell in ‘Speak No Evil’ Trailer

The remake of the 2022 Danish psychological horror film hits theaters in September.

The Big Picture

• Blumhouse unveils trailer for tense thriller Speak No Evil at CinemaCon, starring James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis.
• The remake follows a married couple's trip turned sinister when new friends reveal dark truths. Directed by James Watkins.
• McAvoy returns to horror after hits like Split and It: Chapter 2 , teaming up with Davis to bring chills in Speak No Evil .

Blumhouse is taking viewers on a nightmarish vacation with the first trailer for the English remake of the 2022 Danish horror film Speak No Evil . Unveiled during Universal's panel at CinemaCon , the footage introduces James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis into an initially mundane setting — a family trip with new friends — before twisting it into a psychological terror where kindness becomes questionable and nobody is as they initially seem.

The original Speak No Evil from director Christian Tafdrup emerged from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival with rave reviews for its uncomfortable and incriminating story. Like the original, the remake follows a married couple and their daughter Agnes who meet a similar family of a different background during a trip abroad and hit it off. Weeks later, the couple receives an invitation to stay for a weekend at the other family's idyllic country home, where their initially sincere sweetness quickly becomes more sinister. As they enter into their new friends' lives, the couple is left uneasy by their behavior and begins considering leaving before their stay is meant to end. Before they can depart, however, their little trip spirals into pure hell as dark truths are unveiled, and they realize too late the danger they're in.

Stepping into the shoes of Tafdrup and his brother, Mads Tafdrup , for the remake is writer-director James Watkins . Best known for helming another horror thriller in Eden Lake starring a pre- Yellowstone Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender , he also took charge of the fan-favorite Black Mirror episode "Shut Up and Dance." He has a strong core group to work with in Speak No Evil , with McAvoy and Davis joined by Scoot McNairy alongside Alix West Lefler , Motaz Malhees , Aisling Franciosi , and Kris Hitchen .

'Speak No Evil' Marks McAvoy's Return to Horror

McAvoy and Davis make the perfect pair of stars to join forces on the horror thriller given their impressive resumes and experiences in the genre. Davis has enjoyed a varying career, including a standout role in a Black Mirror episode of her own, " San Junipero ," but for McAvoy, Speak No Evil is a return to the spooky side of cinema after his previous brief stretch killing it as a horror star. He showed off his range as the dissociative identity disorder-diagnosed Kevin Crumb in M. Night Shyamalan 's acclaimed thriller Split in 2016 before going on to reprise the role in Glass in 2019. That same year, he'd take on an even bigger challenge as the adult Bill Denbrough in It: Chapter 2 , further cementing his place in the genre. Together, they look to further the discomfort of the Danish hit and make it stand apart from its predecessor.

Speak No Evil will terrorize theaters starting on September 13 . Check out the trailer below and stay tuned here at Collider for more news from CinemaCon, which runs through April 11.

Speak No Evil (2024)