Addicted To Fresno, film review: a dark subject dealt with tasteless wit

Jamie Babbit’s comedy tells the tangled lives of two sisters that get involved in an accidental murder

Film still from Addicted To Fresno

Jamie Babbit’s comedy deals with dark subject matter in a disconcertingly light-hearted way. The screenplay by Karey Dornetto (whose credits include South Park) is often witty in its deliberately tasteless, expletive-laden way. This is a story of two sisters. Shannon (Judy Greer) is a recovering sex addict, down on her luck, who has joined Martha (Natasha Lyonne) working in a dead-end job as a cleaner and housekeeper in a hotel in Fresno.

Their complicated lives become yet more tangled after Shannon accidentally kills a man she has been having sex with during her cleaning shift. When the sisters try to dispose of the body, they’re blackmailed and forced to come up with $25,000. Their solution is to try to steal the money. The jaunty music by Nathan Matthew David leaves us in no doubt that the film is tongue in cheek. Individual scenes are funny enough but, at feature length, the facetiousness soon grates.

Addicted To Fresno (15), Jamie Babbit, 83 mins Starring: Judy Greer, Aubrey Plaza, Natasha Lyonne