Other people cycle in and out of Abbi’s space, all imploring him to get up and move on. “There’s ain’t no Nintendo in the Y2K,” he says with ominous certainty. His old pal rambles on in the background, tapes jugs of sodas to his hands, and issues a surprisingly profound assessment of “Jerry Maguire.” Abbi grows desperate for an end to his conundrum, but his brother issues an oppressive decree that he meet a mounting deadline. “Relaxer” boils this formula down to a shrewd, minimalist premise.Ībbi’s universe is defined by the detritus of ’90s nostalgia swirling around him, from 3D glasses that may or may not afford him telekinetic powers to stacks of videocassette tapes documenting his inane exploits.
Potrykus’ three previous features (“Ape,” “Buzzard,” and “The Alchemist Cookbook)” fixated on young men whose obsessions with beating the system dictate their lives. Press notes describe the movie’s concept as “Slacker” by way of “The Exterminating Angel,” but it feels more like the Farrelly brothers’ version of “Castaway” on the couch for a video game generation. He’s a prisoner of pixelated walls, the eight-bit audio droning on in the background with hypnotic specificity, and “Relaxer” finds its groove as both slapstick and a masterful surrealist media satire. Maybe the end of the world, too.īurge, whose lanky features and saucer-shaped eyes recall Buster Keaton, is a perfect vessel for Abbi’s outrageous conundrum. Abbi’s resources dwindle, which only strengthens his resolve, and his grip on reality - never too clear in the first place - becomes increasingly suspect.
Eventually, his brother leaves, and a series of other visitors come and go: a rambunctious pal (Andre Hyland) who drones on about popular culture, exterminators, and passing acquaintances.
The latest challenge, culled from an issue of PC World, finds Abbi fighting to reach a sacred level of “Pac Man” in the hopes of scoring a $100,000 cash prize, which he hopes to use to buy a boat (or maybe visit his incarcerated father Abbi’s life goals swing wildly as his world holds still). It turns out he’s enmeshed in one of the innumerable challenges that his brother sends his way, dangling the possibilities of superficial awards at the end of the tunnel. As Abbi’s brother barks orders to his focused sibling, “Relaxer” sets the stage for its outrageous premise - a living room showdown between a man and his television set, while outside the apocalypse is nigh. A timer goes off and Abbi chugs a gallon of milk it doesn’t go well. Abbi (Burge) already has his eyes glued to the screen in the movie’s opening minutes, blasting opera music as he frantically speeds through another game level, while his stern older brother (a typically intense David Dastmalchian) videotapes the whole thing.
Media scholar Neil Postman diagnosed the ills of entertainment media in his aptly titled 1985 tome “Amusing Ourselves to Death ” that diagnosis could serve as an alternate title to the plight of Potrykus’ stationary protagonist.