'The Long Dumb Road' mines comedic moments from a familiar formula

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

A straight-laced guy is traveling across the country on a deadline to chase his dreams. Along the way, he meets an eccentric buffoon who finagles his way into tagging along, and the two of them get into all sorts of hijinks at the hands of the buffoon. But, it turns out — you’re not going to believe this — they’re not so different after all, and can even stand to learn a thing or two from each other before going their separate ways.

Yeah, “The Long Dumb Road” is one of those movies. It doesn’t bring much new to the table, but the movie is rescued by winning performances and a level of pathos not often seen in road-trip comedies. Co-written and directed by Hannah Fidell, whose previous works have all been serious dramas (“6 Years” and “A Teacher” among them), “The Long Dumb Road” stars Tony Revolori as Nathan, a Texas kid driving out to Los Angeles for art school, which starts in a matter of days. Jason Mantzoukas is Richard, a mechanic with dreams of Las Vegas who fixes Nathan’s car when it breaks down on the highway. Richard, it turns out, is hung up on ex-high school lover Stacey (Casey Wilson), and after spending a few days together for reasons that don’t matter, Nathan convinces Richard to go after her. She’s just off I-10 in New Mexico, and he’s driving that way anyway, Nathan figures.

That’s the inciting incident for the film’s plot. From there, things don’t go well for the duo, as you might have guessed. Thankfully, the film is less screwball than many of its contemporaries. There are no inexplicable action sequences shot in slow-motion, exotic animals showing up in places they shouldn’t or random celebrity cameos. The humor instead comes mostly from Mantzoukas, the movie and podcast veteran whose delivery could make me laugh no matter the quality of script. The character of Richard isn’t the most likable man ever written, but hearing Mantzoukas go on an extended rant about giving fast food workers the respect they deserve is comedy gold. Revolori is a strong straight man for Mantzoukas’ antics, and the chemistry between them, a pseudo big brother-little brother relationship, is the film’s shining light. It’s also well-shot, with Fidell giving the film an indie, low-key feel, and Keegan DeWitt’s music choices adding an appropriately southwestern vibe to the proceedings.

As for the film’s non-shining light, well, did I mention that the characters aren’t likable? Some of Richard’s actions, particularly toward women, are frankly gross, which I could understand if he wasn’t made out to be a protagonist. He is, though, and Nathan keeps him around for reasons that would never make sense in real life. There’s enough toxic masculinity in one scene, set in a diner, to last a lifetime. There are also a few hints of things you think will be important later in the film, but instead have no real payoff.

Ron Livingston’s turn as Richard’s friend, Francois, is fine, but he isn’t given much in the way of comedy. Neither is Wilson, though Ciara Bravo steals the one scene she’s in as Ashly (that’s spelled correctly), Stacey’s daughter. Outside of Mantzoukas, the humor is mostly kept at “give one chuckle and smile” level, which admittedly is much preferable to films of this ilk that are devoid of intelligent humor altogether.

Look, this movie’s fine, it just doesn't have that much to say. It’ll have you laughing in parts and the ending, the one new thing this movies brings to the genre, may surprise some audience members. If you’re a fan of Mantzoukas’ prior work, his performance is worth the price of admission. If you’re not, don’t feel bad waiting for Netflix.