0
0
Lily (Loren Horsley) has a crappy job selling burgers at the local burger joint. There’s only one high point in her day: that moment, just after noon, when the man of her dreams comes in for lunch. His name is Jarrod (Jermaine Clement). He has a dark mullet and big tinted glasses, he works at the video game store, and he doesn’t know that Lily even exists. One day, though, she gets her lucky break when Jarrod comes in with an invitation to a party—and he asks Lily to give it to one of her coworkers for him. It’s an animal party—meaning everyone’s supposed to dress up as their favorite animal—and Lily manages to talk her brother into going with her. At the party, there’s a video game competition, and Lily manages to beat out everyone else for the chance to play in the finals against Jarrod. Though Jarrod beats her soundly (mostly because she’s too busy staring at him to compete), he’s impressed by her superior video game talents—and from then on, the two of them are inseparable.
And, still, Jarrod hardly knows that Lily exists.
One day, Jarrod announces to Lily that he has to go home on a very important mission: he’s planning to fight the bully that used to beat him up in high school. So Lily goes with him—to meet Jarrod’s family and to support him as he trains for his all-important fight.
Eagle Vs. Shark is a dry romantic slacker comedy about two lovable losers—or, more accurately, one lovable loser and one obnoxious clod. Lily is cute, in a socially awkward kind of way—and it’s difficult to understand what she sees in Jarrod, an even more socially awkward video-game-playing geek who’s too hell-bent on avenging old teenage woes to appreciate what he’s got. Instead of being funny, often it’s just plain sad. And by the time Jarrod eventually tries to redeem himself, it’s just way too late to care.
But it’s not just the characters. Just about everything about Eagle Vs. Shark is awkward and uncomfortable—from Jarrod and Lily’s relationship to the film’s sluggish pace. There are too many awkward moments and too much uncomfortable silence. Of course, it does have some really funny moments that are sure to catch you completely off-guard, but even most of the laughs are uncomfortable—and the long, dull moments in between make the movie feel much longer than its 88-minute runtime. In the end, Eagle Vs. Shark isn’t as irritating as it could have been, but it isn’t nearly as funny as it could have been, either.
