Critic Reviews

The thing is, Listen Up Philip is a comedy — a howlingly funny black comedy with really sharp teeth.

Words do more than hurt, they also slash and burn in this sharp, dyspeptic, sometimes gaspingly funny exploration of art and life, men and women, being and nonbeing, and the power and limits of language.

Writer-director Perry has made a bracing and very Roth-y study of ambition and itchy literary yearning. In another time and another world, Robert Altman captured the essence of William Faulkner's landscape by filming a non-Faulkner crime story, "Thieves Like Us." This is comparable to what Perry has done here.

Perry somehow allows his cast enough space in this meticulously authored environment to work creative wonders of their own.

Like its central character, Listen Up Philip exudes a kind of highbrow affectation that charms more than it alienates.

Trenchantly reflecting on the mishandling of success, blind ambition, idolatry, hero worship and the complex and competitive nature of artists in romantic relationships, Listen Up Philip is brilliantly chock-a-block with resonant observations.

A brilliantly flinty movie about writers angry at the world for failing to live up to their standards and recognize their genius.

It’s a familiar tale, but one told by Perry with immense filmmaking verve and novelistic flourish, and acted by an exceptional ensemble cast.

Listen Up Philip doesn’t care to be liked. And in that, it deserves to be loved.

While the intolerance fueling this dark, existential comedy won't be to everyone's liking, the film's cerebral beat-down is a strange and sardonic thing of beauty.