MicroCinema Scene

In its scant 30-minute running time, A Bowlful of Happiness made me laugh more and harder than most of the comedies I went to see in the theater last year. At one point I started choking and had to pause the damn thing. That happens so rarely these days, that when it does, I have to make note of it.

As soon as Jason Knuth as Geoffry (pronounced Joff-ree) P. Nerdle, an overweight, bean-slurping, comic book loving, possibly retarded mama’s boy, shows up on screen, shoveling pork and beans down his mouth, you know you’re in for a treat—Knuth’s take on this socially inept character is pure gold, and every line and movement is guffaw inducing. It’s when you notice the little things that Knuth is doing to make this character so damn funny - like when you see him get so excited when trying to open a package of Sea Monkeys that he has to stop and take a breath

The plot is a 70s-drenched take on Little Shop of Horrors, with Nerdle having to feed his precious Sea Monkeys human flesh and blood in order to satiate their hunger, but the way it’s carried out is what makes the film so appealing, instead of focusing directly on the murders, focusing on Nerdle’s insipid vision of the world while committing the crimes. But, plot be darned: even if the film was just 30-minutes of Nerdle in his basement, talking about whatever is on his mind, it would be worth it. It’s the reason why you want to see this movie.

I will gladly proclaim myself an unabashed fan of this film and cannot wait to see the further adventures of Nerdle, in the recently announced A Bowlful of Happiness 2. 

Related Articles:

• Fando Y Lis
• Livelihood
• I Was Bigfoot’s Shemp (Part 3)