Actor/director Pat Kieley sums up Who is KK Downey? as a combination "of the stupid hipster world we live in and a literary hoax story." And that's exactly what this film is.
Considering the budget, which Kiely and co-director Darren Curtis scraped and scrambled for -- going so far to hide their bicycles around the corner to look competent to potential investors -- they pulled it off and then some.
Who is KK Downey? is one of the funnier movies that will come down the pike this year.
It helps if the viewer is an under-35 scenester type, familiar with wannabe cool people and young aspiring intellectuals, the kind who decry the triumph of style over substance every time they have three pints in them, as that's clearly who this movie is aimed at. And who it mercilessly skewers to boot.
It also helps if you're not easily offended, as this tale of two hapless losers, one a lousy independent musician, one a failed novelist trying to cover ground no suburban white kid could ever truly know about, wrests countless sex and drug gags from what is, in part, a parody of the real life seamy character hoax mounted by author Laura Albert in the '90s.
All in all, it is the best answer to the Canadian indie hit Fubar we've seen yet. Is it for you? Depends if you find the concept of a young culture critic being so full of himself he administers self-love to a picture of Voltaire funny or not.
Who is KK Downey? is playing at the Royal.
(This film is rated 18-A)
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