Review: Listen Up, Philip

"You don't support me and you never did, so you won't get this gift from me." This is Philip Friedman (Jason Schwartzman), novelist and misanthrope, bidding farewell to a bemused ex-girlfriend and denying her the honour of receiving an advance copy of his soon-to-be published second work, Obidant.

"You stood in my way when I had so many opportunities." This is Ashley Kane (Elisabeth Moss), photographer and Philip's current girlfriend, realising the extent of Philip's thoughtlessness when he announces he will be spending the summer nurturing his creative juices at the country house of celebrated novelist Ike Zimmerman.

"You're not me." This is Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce), literary lion and Philip's self-designated mentor, ensuring Philip understands his place before announcing he has secured him a teaching position at a liberal arts college. Ike recognises more of himself in Philip than his own daughter Melanie (Krysten Ritter), who warns Philip: "You're just like him. I hope you take responsibility for yourself before you destroy the lives of the people who care about you."

Listen Up, Philip has its obvious cinematic influences in John Cassavetes and Woody Allen (particularly Husbands and Wives), utilising the former's penchant for an aggressive and intimate camera style and the latter's jazzy soundtrack and intellectual milieu. Writer-director Alex Rose Perry pays further homage to legendary writer Philip Roth - not only in his main protagonist's first name and in the being of Zimmerman, whose surname hews close to Roth's famous literary alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman, but also in the typeface and design of the book jackets seen in the publishing house. Structurally, it inclines to the literary with Perry admitting to following William Gaddis's The Recognitions in his decision to bench Philip to focus on Ashley and her struggles with loneliness following her break with Philip.

The actors retain the interest - Schwartzman colours Philip an unrepentant shade of unlikable whilst Pryce brings both gravitas and humour to lines like "Don't make yourself any more miserable than you need. Leave that to the women you love." Moss is superb - one closeup has her running the gamut from victorious to crumpled to renewed in under a minute.

Perry imbues the film with keen observations on the conflict between a writer's personal life and his work, the underlying competitiveness between artists, the desire for meaningful connections, and the folly of worshipping false idols. Yet Listen Up, Philip is an often tedious and unbearable endurance test spent in the company of self-sabotaging narcissists whose monstrous behaviour is not only excused but glorified in the name of creativity. There is no denying Perry's voice and talent - I'll gladly seek out his previous works Impolex and The Color Wheel and await his next film - but Listen Up, Philip is an experience best undergone once.

Listen Up, Philip

Directed by: Alex Ross Perry

Written by: Alex Ross Perry

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Elisabeth Moss, Jonathan Pryce, Krysten Ritter, Joséphine de La Baume, Jess Weixler, Dree Hemingway