I was up until 4am this morning writing that, so I'm glad someone was able to read it haha. I did forget to add something though: what struck me most about this movie was that it felt to me very much like a meta exercise by B.J. Novak.

It watches and reads and feels to me like he's dramatized his own personal transformation on the topic of America and conspiracies. The decision to bring in Ashton Kutcher seems deliberate. The mentioning of Q right near the end. The introspection and transformation his character undergoes...it all feels so...personal. He wrote it. Directed it. And starred in it. His character's name is Ben (I wonder if B.J. stands for Ben Joseph--a common Jewish name). The character, like him, is Jewish, they're both writers. I think when he says he really does love America, B.J. really does love America, and when he says he sees it falling apart and he feels like he's just standing in the corner making fun of it...it definitely feels like he's talking about himself.

The movie feels like a really vulnerable confession to me. It feels very raw and personal and I just think it's as close to a masterpiece as I've ever seen. When Q says "You got your opus" it feels more like he's referring to the film we're watching. Not the story of Abilene that he ultimately deletes.

I was up until 4am this morning writing that, so I'm glad someone was able to read it haha. I did forget to add something though: what struck me most about this movie was that it felt to me very much like a meta exercise by B.J. Novak (I wonder if B.J. stands for Ben Joseph).

It watches and reads and feels to me like he's dramatized his own personal transformation on the topic of America and conspiracies. The decision to bring in Ashton Kutcher seems deliberate. The mentioning of Q right near the end. The introspection and transformation his character undergoes...it all feels so...personal. We wrote it. Directed it. And starred in it. His character's name is Ben (like I said, I wonder if B.J. stands for Ben Joseph--a common Jewish name). The character, like him, is Jewish, they're both writers. I think when he says he really does love America, B.J. really does love America, and when he says he sees it falling apart and he feels like he's just standing in the corner making fun of it...it definitely feels like he's talking about himself.

The movie feels like a really vulnerable confession to me. It feels very raw and personal and I just think it's as close to a masterpiece as I've ever seen. When Q says "You got your opus" it feels more like he's referring to the film we're watching. Not the story of Abilene that he ultimately deletes.