From Cooper Raiff, the writer-director-star who constructed the brick-solid romcom Shithouse, returns with this endearingly eccentric tale of Andrew (Raiff), a “party-starting” Bar Mitzvah emcee who makes a connection with guests Domino (a radiant Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter Lola (Vanessa Burghardt). (He must live in a very tight-knit Jewish community where every family has a boy or girl turning 13, because this guy is booked solid.) The film has its share of howlingly funny moments: curious to learn the old Domino’s backstory, Andrew Googles “Domino,” but all he gets is pizza. Desperate to make a connection, Andrew disingenuously dangles, “You know I think I may be autistic” a bit of fiction that dissipates when pressed. At any moment this could have crossed the Lifetime Channel line, but Raiff never lets maudlinity stick out an unwelcome foot. The depth and richness of his characters, some of the most decently tangled types since Jonathan Demme left us, is Raiff's strong point. His biggest flaw as a writer is making Andrew a prisoner of his own invincible awesomeness. It ends joyously, just not in the way we’d expect, and that’s the happiest ending of all. (2022) — Scott Marks
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