STUDIO: IFC
RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2008
STARRING: Jeff Garlin, Sarah Silverman, Bonnie Hunt, David Pasquesi, and Mina Kolb
WRITTEN BY: Jeff Garlin
DIRECTED BY: Jeff Garlin
FEATURES: Deleted Scene (with optional director commentary)
Feature Commentary By Writer/Director Jeff Garlin

Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin has made a poignant observational comedy called I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, which has been available at Blockbuster for a few weeks through an exclusive deal but is now breaking free from the DVD giant and will be available at other outlets. It's one of those short and sweet romantic comedies that they don't really make that often. In other words, it doesn't rely on physical comedy. Honestly, when did the romantic comedy become about Matthew McConaughey falling down or grown men acting like little children? Remember when they used to make romantic comedies with likable leads? Jeff Garlin is about as likable as they come in I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, a cute movie that values character above plot or ill-conceived cliches. Garlin's directorial debut is sometimes a little too slow for its own good and it feels like it needed a little more time to flesh out its characters (it runs a shockingly short 80 minutes) but its heart is always in the right place, something you can't say about a lot of '00s romantic comedies.

Calling I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With a romantic comedy is actually a little bit wrong but the DVD cover with a mugging Jeff Garlin and a super-cute Sarah Silverman sells it that way and it's hard to put into words exactly what genre the film more accurately belongs in. Garlin plays James Aaron, a middle-aged actor who lives with his mom and hasn't gotten laid in five years. To make matters worse, his favorite hang-out is closing and James can't get the parts he wants any more. When he hears that they're doing a remake of his favorite movie, Marty, and he's not even allowed to audition for the part, he knows he's hit career rock-bottom. James drowns his career and relationship woes in junk food and wanders the streets with his buddy (David Pasquesi). When James meets the gorgeous Beth (Sarah Silverman) at an ice cream parlor, he falls for her...he thinks. Beth isn't your average gal, taking James to watch her try on underwear and asking him sexually laced questions. Meanwhile, James also meets Stella (Bonnie Hunt), the teacher at the school of his friend's daughter. Will James find love? Or at least someone to eat cheese with?

Very reminiscent of the more low-key Woody Allen films and the legions of filmmakers he inspired in the '80s and '90s, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With wants to be, first and foremost, about people that you can relate to. To that end, Garlin is a charming and interesting lead and I truly hope we see him more often in front of the camera. Silverman and Hunt are two actresses who rarely do wrong in my book, especially Hunt, who, in just a few scenes, makes one wonder why she doesn't work more often. She's totally charming. The extensive supporting ensemble is full of recognizable faces including cameos by Gina Gershon, Joey Slotnick, Dan Castellanata, Amy Sedaris, and Richard Kind. Garlin still needs a little work behind the camera and the laptop. As a writer/director, he holds a few scenes a bit too long, as if he wrote a 60-minute movie and he's trying to stretch it out to the 80 minute mark. Even with its short running time, Cheese feels spread thin.

The DVD for I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With is serviceable at best, but you can't expect too many bells and whistles on a film like this one. It is nice that IFC allowed Garlin to sit down and do an entertaining commentary and that they pulled one scene from the cutting room floor. Honestly, a commentary and a deleted scene is about all fans could expect for a movie like this one. Let's just say that there are no CGI sequences to break down through featurettes and we probably didn't need storyboards. I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With won't change the romantic comedy, but it never aspires that high. Garlin just wants to give audiences a sweet character study for a rainy Saturday night. It's a well-intentioned and pretty sweet slice of cheese.