Critically Acclaimed Comedy Needs To Reach A Wider Audience
If you’re a big comedy fan, you’re likely already aware of the fact that straightforward comedy films have all but disappeared from the modern cinema landscape. Unless a movie is a comically inclined drama with heavy themes of generational trauma and a science fiction angle, its all but guaranteed to languish on select video-on-demand services if it can even get produced at all. One major casualty of this trend is the 2019 film Sword of Trust, which is currently only available to stream through a subscription to AMC+.
Critically Acclaimed But Never Found Its Audience
Sword of Trust is a tight, 90 minute comedy movie with a stellar cast and a strong critical response. The film, which was distributed by the indie studio IFC Films, premiered at South by Southwest back in 2019 before making the rounds on lesser-known streamers such as AMC+, but ultimately failed to inspire a massive audience response. This is likely due to a lack of marketing budget, which may have been curtailed if major studios were stilling willing to financially bet on comedies making a solid return on investment.
Marc Maron Leads A Stellar Cast
Sword of Trust stars stand-up legend Marc Maron in the leading role, as a sketchy and opportunistic pawn shop owner named Mel. The film touts a supportive cast which includes Jon Bass, Michaela Watkins, Toby Huss, Dan Bakkedahl, Jillian Bell, and former Saturday Night Live writer Mike O’Brien. O’Brien co-wrote the script for the movie alongside director Lynn Shelton, who has previously collaborated with Marc Maron on numerous projects including many of his stand-up specials and even his IFC sitcom Maron.
“The Best I Can Do Is $400”
The narrative of Sword of Trust centers on Mel’s pawn shop as an antique Civil War-era sword is brought across his desk, alongside a note which seems to confirm a bizarre conspiracy theory which argues that the Southern Confederates actually won the war, and that the last 150+ years of American history are based on lies.
At first, Mel sees the sword as near worthless, and offers his customers a few hundred dollars for it, until he learns that conspiracy nuts on the internet may be willing to pay up to $50,000 for it.
From there, Mel and company attempt to get their hands on the strange relic, prompting an over-the-top comedy of errors with tons of heart, and lots of hilarious improvisational dialogue.
A Hidden Comedy Gem
Despite its extremely limited release, and lack of overall popularity, Sword of Trust was a major hit with critics, resulting in the film’s shocking 94 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m sure general audiences at large would be more than happy to check this movie out … if they ever knew that it existed in the first place. As a major fan of Marc Maron’s stand-up, and a follower of several of the actors involved in Sword of Trust, I was shocked to stumble across this film last week for the very first time.
Streaming Sword Of Trust On AMC+
GFR SCORE
Still, it’s better late than never when it comes to catching a great under-the-radar comedy, so be sure to hop on AMC+ and stream Sword of Trust today if you’re interested. Just don’t spend too much time tottering around on the internet searching for other underrated comedies- you never know what kind of bizarre conspiracy theories you may uncover along the way.
