The Trouble with Jessica

The Trouble With Jessica is like a tray of fresh out of the oven pot brownies: demented, dark and delicious. Get yourself a mouthful of this movie.

The script, by James Handel and director Matt Winn, is tightly constructed.

As cute and predictable as this all is, the cast hurls itself at this slight farce and makes it play.

Ultimately, The Trouble with Jessica runs out of gas and limps in the direction of a contrived conclusion, lacking the mercurial spark that all its characters attribute to Jessica at one point or another. If only the experience of watching the film could be as engaging as the implied experience of knowing her.

Under the right circumstances, the story that The Trouble with Jessica tries to tell could work if it paired its comedy with a meaningful perspective on depression and self-harm. Instead, this misguided take on a dark comedy ultimately lacks laughs, thrills, and overall reverence for severe topics.

A critique about the hypocrisies of the righteous upper middle class unfolds halfheartedly, leaving us with performances that might’ve worked better in a sketch comedy scene.

The Trouble with Jessica's cast still can't overcome just how unlikable their characters are.