3407. Results (2015)

Starring: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan

Director: Andrew Bujalski

Running Time: 105 mins

Results is an American film about a wealthy but lonely man who decides to get in shape by joining up to a tailor-made gym, where a personal trainer comes to him to help his fitness programme. However, he has more on his mind than his own fitness.

Not every comedy has to be laugh-out-loud hilarious. In fact, many of the very best comedies combine darker, more subtle brands of humour with big jokes, but that’s something that Results, despite its intentions, just doesn’t manage to pull off.

A perfectly passable watch throughout, the movie is a distinctly dour affair with its brand of humour, too often resorting to some rather dark ideas without much satirical payoff nor emotionally captivating depth to really make it feel like a worthwhile part of the story.

Despite the fact that leads Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders and Kevin Corrigan all play up to an atmosphere full of pent-up tension on the part of the film’s main characters, Results overshadows the potentially captivating story it’s trying to tell with its brand of humour.

It’s not a tedious watch by any means, and there are elements of intrigue to be found in the film, albeit not often at the centre of attention. While the tragic behaviour of Kevin Corrigan’s wealthy but lonely character is often the centre of the story, I often found Guy Pearce’s story more engaging, following an ambitious gym owner who attempts to deal with both personal and business dilemmas at the same time.

There’s more depth to Pearce’s story than the often superficially dark tale following Corrigan’s character, while Cobie Smulders is caught in the middle in an unfortunately inactive role. She starts off as quite a striking presence – playing a particularly determined personal trainer – but she fades into the background as the story seems to turn more towards the male leads.

Overall, then, I wasn’t all too enamoured by Results. Though it has its strengths, the film is a largely dull and often dour affair, with disappointing humour, a story with a misjudged focus and a generally unfulfilled potential. So, that’s why I’m giving it a 6.6.