Jason Schwartzman does the full Bill Murray in “7 Chinese Brothers.”
That, of course, is a good thing, and totally apt. Schwartzman first came to attention starring with Murray in Wes Anderson’s great “Rushmore” (1998). Here, the student has become the master of insouciant wise-assness, and it’s a real hoot.
Schwartzman plays Larry, a goof-off who talks to his dog (played, FYI, by Schartzman’s real dog) and has a snarky response for every occasion. Larry’s introduced as he’s cheerily getting fired from a restaurant job.
After a chat with his equally snide grandmother (Olympia Dukakis), the terror of her nursing home, Larry goes to get his car fixed. Hey, the lube shop seems like a good enough place, so Larry winds up getting employed there, to use the term “employed” loosely.
“It really feels like I’m working!” Larry says as he sails by a co-worker.
All the while, he’s avoiding or badgering or provoking: his former boss, whose car he deliberately scratched with a key; the nursing aide who handles Grandma; and the woman who works the front desk at his new job.
And no, there’s no reason given for the title.
“7 Chinese Brothers” is blazingly brief. It’s only a little longer than an episode of a TV series, like Schwartzman’s former HBO show “Bored to Death.” But writer-director Bob Byington fills the movie with so much off-the-cuff humor, there are more laughs here than in most Hollywood quote-unquote comedies. Call it quirky or observational or shaggy, but almost everything works.
Schwartzman works, too. While he’s had a good run this year (“The Overnight,” “Listen Up Philip”), nothing of late has utilized so well his skill at slouching toward inspiration. He’s as comfortable conversing with his dog about whether the pooch has knees as he is flirting with girls or being fake-sincere about his grandmother’s will.
Bill Murray would be proud.
