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Our early twenties tend to be an important transitional time—a time to learn and grow and find ourselves. But in the comedy Bernard and Huey, a couple of middle-aged men end up reconnecting—and reverting to the young men they once were.
Bernard and Huey catches up with two old friends as they reunite after decades apart. Bernard (Jim Rash) may be a smooth and successful (though neurotic) New Yorker now, but he was once young and inexperienced, desperate to learn from his outspoken best friend’s vast experience with women. But when a middle-aged Huey (David Koechner) shows up at his door, he’s drunk and depressed and down on his luck. But as Bernard begins a relationship with Huey’s daughter, Zelda (Mae Whitman), and Huey reconnects with a woman from his past, they begin to return to their old selves.
Based on the characters created by Jules Feiffer more than 60 years ago, Bernard and Huey follows the two men in their lifelong search for something like love. It’s a chatty and often witty film, and Rash, Koechner, and Whitman give solid performances, enjoying every line of their snappy dialogue.
The problem, however, is that the characters are all self-absorbed and annoying. Huey is a lifelong womanizer—loud and obnoxious and rude. He’s the kind of guy whose confidence may have once attracted college girls, but he (and they) should have grown out of it decades ago.
Meanwhile, though Bernard once seemed to be more thoughtful and sensitive, he’s now every bit as selfish as his friend, jumping from one woman to the next and maintaining his on-again-off-again relationship with therapist Roz (Sasha Alexander) mostly because it gives him a chance to talk about his ex-wife. And even after he falls for Zelda, he may be a little more giving, but everything he does revolves around his own wants and feelings.
Because of the characters’ overall selfishness, their adventures can be exhausting to watch. The film is filled with fighting and complaining and a bunch of characters looking out for themselves. And though it has some amusing moments, audiences will have a hard time connecting to the characters and their story.
Bernard and Huey is a witty look at relationships—complete with some noteworthy performances. For better or for worse, it may remind you of those ill-advised romances from your young adult years. But, overall, the characters make it far from lovable.
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