Underrated Ridiculous Comedy On Hulu Gives It’s Always Sunny Star A Classic Performance
By now, fans of Charlie Day primarily know him for his long-running role as Charlie Kelly, the rat-bashing, sewer-traversing, cheese-eating maniac who serves as the janitor on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. If you’re not a super fan of the FX original series or an avid listener of the show’s companion podcast, you may not be aware that Charlie Day made his directorial debut last year with a hilarious film titled Fool’s Paradise.
For those who haven’t yet had the chance to see the film, Fool’s Paradise is currently available to stream on Hulu.
Charlie Day’s Directorial Debut
Charlie Day first conceived of Fool’s Paradise back in 2018 under a previous working title of “El Tonto.” During that time, Day wrote the screenplay, enlisted the acting support of numerous Always Sunny alumni, and began shooting the film on his own dime. Charlie Day continued reworking the script and tinkering with the final edit of the film for several years, eventually adding 27 pages of reshoots in 2022 after following the advice of auteur filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.
An All Star Cast
After some reshoots, a bit of editing magic, and a title change, Fool’s Paradise finally premiered in theaters on May 9, 2023. Ironically, the film premiered on the exact same day as Blackberry, which stars Charlie Day’s Always Sunny collaborator Glenn Howerton. Fool’s Paradise touts a sprawling ensemble cast that includes Day himself in the leading role, alongside Ken Jeong, Adrien Brody, Kate Beckinsale, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco, Jason Bateman, and Ray Liotta, in one of his final on-screen roles.
A Strange Satire Of Hollywood
The narrative of Fool’s Paradise centers on a mentally stunted mute who is discharged from a mental health facility due to state-wide budget cuts. As he wanders the streets of Los Angeles, he is mistaken by a Hollywood producer as a renowned method actor, with whom the mute shares a striking resemblance. The producer takes the wayward man to set, only to realize that the true star has locked himself in his trailer and refused to come out.
Failed To Find An Audience
In a pinch, the producer demands the random man take the actor’s place and thrust him into the starring role of a big-budget blockbuster. Between scenes, a down-on-his-luck publicist named Lenny tries to take on the mysterious newcomer as a client and mistakenly gives him the name “Latte Pronto” after hearing someone shout the phrase on the set.
As the narrative of Fool’s Paradise plays out, Latte Pronto and Lenny encounter a wide array of wild characters, each of whom ascribes their own projected feelings and dreams onto the blank canvas of the mute movie star.
Streaming On Hulu
REVIEW SCORE
Over the course of a tight 98-minute run-time, Charlie Day’s Latte Pronto accidentally finds himself surrounded by chaos with the blissful ignorance of Mr. Magoo, all while putting on an Old-Hollywood performance in the vein of Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin. Fool’s Paradise was reviewed quite harshly and currently touts a terrible critic score of just 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie does suffer from an abrupt ending that fails to tie all the plot threads together, but it’s still a really fun watch, and will surely be enjoyed by any Always Sunny in Philadelphia fanatics.
If you’d like to check out Fool’s Paradise today, be sure to stream the film on Hulu. Be sure to boil your denim, slap a grilled cheese on the radiator, and put out a bowl of delicious refreshing jelly beans if you want the authentic Charlie Kelly viewing experience.
