The Drama Is a Bleak Comedy With No Payoff

Sometimes it’s hard to know why a movie even exists. Perhaps in an effort to capture the attention of moviegoers who, it’s said, pay nearly as much attention to the tiny screens in their hands as to the bigger ones in front of them, plots have become sliced-and-diced affairs, shards of a story that are intended to somehow come together at the end, like a jagged puzzle. You can check out for a few minutes and not miss much. But by the end, you might find yourself wondering what a movie has left you with.