Ass Backwards: It Should Have Been a Web-Series

Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael star in Ass Backwards, a buddy comedy they co-wrote and born from their "Rode Hard and Put Away Wet" sketch comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade. As a film, it meanders and feels pointless, but as a collection of short sketches it's surprisingly successful, making it the first feature film that would have been better served as a web-series.

Kate and Chloe are roommates who work in New York City in a variety of demeaning positions, who are sent an invitation to their hometown's beauty pageant. Losing the pageant as kids, they begin to believe, is responsible for the poor condition of their lives, and thusly they decide to return in order to win and get a fresh start. So begins a buddy-road trip-beauty pageant-indie comedy with plenty of heart but few genuine laughs.

The two main characters border on a Dumb and Dumber level of stupidity, which makes identifying with their plight difficult, as does a title which seems to have no connection to the film except to highlight how little it thinks of itself, which is odd coming from its own star/writers.

There's a parade of cameos, which are somehow offset with by-the-numbers awkward situations, i.e. Paul Sheer running a strip club where the girls attempt to dance to get the money they'll need to continue their trip. The most memorable surprise is probably Vincent D'Onofrio as an overly optimistic father, but the Jon Cryer, Bob Odenkirk, and Alicia Silverstone's roles are basically throw-aways.

And this gets back to the web-series pitch from before. Spread out over a series of months, the isolated antics of small sections of the story would be more entertaining than jamming them together into one 90-minute slog that does little to reward the viewers for their time. But that may never have been the purpose.

It does prove that Wilson and Raphael have excellent comedic instincts and can dedicate themselves fully to character work, but most people coming to Ass Backwards knew that already and were probably hoping for more.