The Clapper Synopsis: 15 minutes of fame destroys the life of a man who works as a clapper in television.
Written by: Dito Montiel
Released: January 26, 2017
Runtime: 89 minutes
Rated: R
Eddie Krumble (Ed Helms) lives in Hollywood with his best friend Chris as a professional clapper in infomercial audiences. It’s not exactly a glamorous life, and Eddie begins to find happiness when a romance blossoms between him and a gas station attendant named Judy (Amanda Seyfried). But when a late-night talk show host zeroes in on Eddie’s many infomercial “disguises,” everyone sets out to discover who Eddie really is, jeopardizing his job and new relationship.
I had not heard of The Clapper before scrolling on Netflix for something to watch and deciding to try it. I like Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, and Tracy Morgan. But after watching the movie, I understood why I hadn’t heard of it. Frankly put, it is not a good movie. I think it had an interesting enough premise, but director Dito Montiel (who also wrote the novel the film is based upon) does absolutely nothing with it. Instead, it feels like the characters sort of flail about until Eddie needs help finding Judy, and even then, it really fails to maintain any interest in the outcome.
Eddie is an unlikeable lead, or perhaps that’s just Helms’s portrayal of him. He and Seyfried had zero chemistry, although admittedly, Seyfried was pretty sweet as the unsuspecting Judy. Eddie simply felt like a man with genuine homicidal tendencies.
As I was watching, all I could think was that this movie was essentially what would have happened if Andy Bernard (Helms’s character in The Office) had moved to Hollywood to be a professional infomercial audience member… although Andy would have loved the attention. In contrast, Eddie seemed to lose his cool any time anyone recognized him.
The romance falls flat, and even though this is a comedy, it’s simply not funny. Not even Tracy Morgan, as Chris, could get a laugh out of me. Usually, with these little-known rom-coms, I can find something in them that I enjoy, and to be fair, The Clapper is no different… it has an excellent soundtrack, but thankfully you don’t need to watch it to listen to the music. This is a definite pass.
Watched: 04.16.2020
The Clapper Notable Song: Outdoors by Rad Planet
