Martin & Orloff (2002)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Lawrence Blume

Writers:

Matt Walsh (written by) &
Ian Roberts (written by) ...

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Martin Flam recently tried to kill himself. His psychiatrist may finish the job...

Plot:

This is the story of a marketing man and his shrink. A suicide attempt and a softball game; A PHD-toting...

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Cannabis | Insanity | Therapy | Based On Sketch Comedy

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Ian Roberts	...	Martin Flam
Matt Walsh	...	Dr. Eric Orloff
H. Jon Benjamin	...	Keith (as Jon Benjamin)
Amy Poehler	...	Patty
Kim Raver	...	Kashia
Matt Besser	...	Ron
Les J.N. Mau	...	Mr. Chan
David Cross	...	Dan Wassermann
Katie Roberts	...	Donna
Sal E. Graziano	...	Jimbo
Marylouise Burke	...	Mrs. Flam
Miriam Tolan	...	Linda
Teddy Coluca	...	Petros
Andy Richter	...	Maitre 'D
Rachel Dratch	...	Southern Woman

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Tashmoo Productions

Trivia:

Most cast members in this film were either members of Second City or The Upright Citizens Brigade.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Keith drives away in Martin's mom's moving van, Martin tries frantically to open the van door and smears the graffiti paint on it (indicating that it was still wet when they shot the scene or that it was meant to wash right off after filming).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Martin: [answering machine] Hello, this is Martin Flam's phone. Please leave a message.
Ron: [leaving message] Martin, this is Ron. I called the loony bin, they said you got out today. Sorry how you tried to kill yourself. Anyhow, I expect you back at work tomorrow morning. We'll discuss how to ease you back into things.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 2002 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2002) (TV)

A waste of a good cast and an intriguing premise

I really wanted to enjoy "Martin & Orloff," which saddles its first-rate cast with third-rate material. I liked the opening scenes, which made me think that M&O would be a black comedy about a suicidal man trying to readjust to normal life--the scene where Ian Roberts cleans copious amounts of his own blood off his bathroom floor packs a wallop. Unfortunately, the movie soon abandons that idea to focus on the old "psychiatrist who's crazier than his patients" cliché. I could *almost* forgive the psychiatrist and his pals being over-the-top, cartoonish freaks, but the portrayal of the Chinese food mogul and his henchmen as insulting racial caricatures was enough to ruin the film for me. The best aspect of "Martin & Orloff" is seeing David Cross do an early version of his "Arrested Development" character.