''Barry Munday'' (alternatively known as ''Family Jewels'') is a 2010 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Chris D'Arienzo; it is based on the novel ''Life is a Strange Place'' by Frank Turner Hollon. It is D'Arienzo's directorial debut. The film stars

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

as the title character, as well as

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...

Chloë Sevigny Chloë Stevens Sevigny (, born November 18, 1974) is an American actress, model, filmmaker and fashion designer. Known for her work in independent films, often appearing in controversial or experimental features, Sevigny is the recipient of se ...

Jean Smart Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981 as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play '' Piaf''. Smart was l ...

Shea Whigham Franklin Shea Whigham Jr. (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of ' ...

Missi Pyle Missi Pyle (born November 16, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in a number of successful films, including ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), ''Big Fish'' (2003), ''Bringing Down the House'' (2003), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog S ...

Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''Happy Gilmore''. Other notable ...

Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, first in the early 1980s for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), and thirt ...

and

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised in ...

. The story revolves around a womanizer waking up to find his testicles have disappeared and is facing a paternity lawsuit by a woman he can't remember having sex with. The film premiered at the

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

on March 13, 2010, got picked up by

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

and was given a limited release on October 1. ''Barry Munday'' garnered negative reviews from critics who praised Wilson's performance but criticized D'Arienzo's quirky filmmaking leading the vulgar material.

Plot

Barry Munday (

), a lonely womanizer, wakes up after being attacked to realize that he's missing his "family jewels". To make matters worse, he learns he's facing a paternity lawsuit filed by a woman, Ginger (

), he can't remember having sex with. Though unintentional, the two discover that their meeting and subsequent "accidents" opened up new opportunities for personal growth and relationships.

Cast

as Barry Munday *

as Ginger Farley *

as Jennifer Farley *

as Carol Munday *

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

as Mrs. Farley *

as Mr. Farley *

as Donald *

as Lida Griggs *

as Lonnie Green *

as Dr. Preston Edwards *

Colin Hanks Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including ''Orange County'', ''King Kong'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits include ' ...

as Heavy Metal Greg *

Mae Whitman Mae Margaret Whitman (born June 9, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She began acting in commercials as a child, making her film debut at the age of six in the romantic drama '' When a Man Loves a Woman'' (1994). She achieved recognition as ...

as Candice *

Kyle Gass Kyle Richard Gass (born July 14, 1960) is an American musician, comedian and actor best known for co-founding—and being a member of—Tenacious D, a Grammy-winning comedy band. He also co-founded the bands Trainwreck and the Kyle Gass Band, ...

as Jerry Sherman from Barry's support group *

Barret Swatek Barret Swatek (born March 3, 1977) is an American actress and comedian who has appeared in films such as ''Lethal Weapon 4'', ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', and ''High School''. She has also made guest appearances on television shows such as ''Just S ...

as Lucy *Trieu Tran as Moe *

Razaaq Adoti Razaaq Adoti (born 27 June 1973) is a British actor, producer and screenwriter. Early life Adoti was born in Forest Gate, London of Nigerian descent (Nigerian British). He landed his first professional screen role on the British television sho ...

as Spiro *

Emily Procter Emily Mallory Procter (born October 8, 1968) is an American actress and activist. She played Ainsley Hayes in the NBC political drama ''The West Wing'' (2000–2002; 2006) and Det. Calleigh Duquesne in the CBS police procedural drama ''CSI: Mia ...

as Deborah *

Matt Winston Matthew Winston is an American actor. He is the son of special effects artist Stan Winston. Career Winston's television appearances include the HBO dramas '' Six Feet Under'' and '' John from Cincinnati'', and as Crewman Daniels in '' Star T ...

as Kyle Pennington *

Sam Pancake Sam Pancake (born May 10, 1964) is an American actor, improviser, writer, and comedian. He began his career with small roles in TV and film, such as ''Wings (1990 TV series), Wings'' in 1990 and ''Pizza Man (1991 film), Pizza Man'' in 1991. Ear ...

as D.J. * Bruna Rubio as Sasha

Release

On February 4, 2010, ''Barry Munday'' was selected as one of the Spotlight Premieres for the 2010

, and made its world premiere on March 13.

bought the film's distribution rights after its premiere at SXSW, first releasing it on August 27 as part of its Ultra VOD program, and giving it a limited release on October 1.

Reception

''Barry Munday'' received negative reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it holds a approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of .

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

gave the film a score of 28 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Eric Kohn of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' praised Wilson's "gentle, unassuming performance" for making the title character "work well enough to generate a steady volume of pathos" but felt the film suffered from "an ever-present lightness despite its vulgar nature," criticizing D'Arienzo's screenplay for containing "a constant barrage of personal gripes and directionless vulgarity that lacks enough ingenuity" to elevate the film's light-hearted tone that "occasionally manages to create a gently bittersweet vibe due to this decisive blend." He concluded that the film's positive elements "simply fail to compensate for the greater lack of competence needed to excuse the shoddy, half-baked plot. The movie's forgettable qualities set it up for a put-down on its own lame terms: "Barry" is mundane." A writer for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called it "a frumpy version of "

Knocked Up ''Knocked Up'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a sl ...

" playing out in a sadder, stranger world," praising Wilson for giving "another successful against-type performance," but felt the "garish and unfashionable" production choices alleviate the seriousness of the story's overall tone, saying "the film's focus on some pretty unappealing quirks limits its commercial appeal." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' film critic

Joe Leydon Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon (born August 22, 1952) is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for ''Variety'' since 1990, he is the author of ''Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See'' (Michael Wiese Prod ...

gave praise to both Wilson and Greer for being "almost too convincing" and giving "some welcome emotional truth" to their respective roles but was critical of D'Arienzo for overusing his supporting cast and laying "the self-conscious quirkiness" thick in his "uneven but modestly diverting indie" film. Robert Abele of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' commended Wilson for portraying the title character with "admirable comic understatement" and the film for having "acceptable heart tugs towards the end", but concluded that: "D'Arienzo's love of trite indie-movie signposts of comic quirkiness — deadpan delivery, overly formal camerawork, characters delivering dialogue into the camera, stunt casting (Billy Dee Williams as Wilson's boss) — is ultimately regrettable." Scott Tobias of ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

'' also commended Wilson for giving the titular character "a puppy-dog eagerness that's refreshing in its total lack of vanity" but felt the film was "a deeply off-putting independent comedy," criticzing D'Arienzo's direction of Greer's character into being "irredeemably, almost inhumanly nasty" and the "egregious stunt casting" of his supporting actors, saying "''Barry Munday'' clashes as violently as its retro-patterned sweaters and hideously ornate wallpaper."

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave it a "D+" grade, criticizing D'Arienzo for ignoring the movie's overall message and replaced it with "random wackiness, distracting stunt casting, and ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy high- ...

''-style production design." He concluded that "this sluggishly paced quirkfest is awfully sophomoric for a film all about giving up the facile thrills of youth for the responsibilities of adulthood."

References

External links

* * * * {{Metacritic film, title=Barry Munday 2010 films 2010 comedy films 2010 directorial debut films 2010 independent films 2010 romantic comedy films 2010 romantic comedy-drama films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s pregnancy films 2010s sex comedy films American comedy films American independent films American pregnancy films American romantic comedy-drama films American sex comedy films Films based on American novels Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles