Intellectual comedy drama about a self obsessed, pretentious, sometimes unlikeable writer. Shades of Woody Allen in its focus on creative types, with similarly impressive dialogue and characterisation. Like the main character, however, the film is easier to admire than fully enjoy.

_Listen up, Philip_ follows the life of... well, Philip (Jason Schwartzman), a self-absorbed writer. The story is told from the perspective of three people - Philip, Ashley, Ike - which I did not like. That is to say, I didn't like the writing choice or the characters. Also, having narration almost always feels like lazy writing. Overall, the movie is not too bad, but it does drag in several places, and the ending is bland - but, hey, at least it has an actual ending. From the start, I was concerned that Philip was going to, yet again, be a completely unlikable lead. While he is mostly unlikable, Schwartzman has the ability to make him fun; he's playing him with just enough of a wink and a nod to let the audience know that he knows the guy is a douchebag. Now, if the movie would have simply been Philip, I would have liked it - perhaps a 6/10 - but we have to spend time with Ike, and Ashley. Perhaps if Weixler or Hemingway had played Ashley, then it would have worked. Really, having the two of them in the film only for one scene is a crime. Ritter also needed more screen time. In fact, just make the story completely about Melanie, Holly, and Emily. I want to see that. As is, this is a poor character study, that splits the duty between three characters. It felt like a bad Woody Allen movie, and just made me want to watch an Allen movie instead. Not recommended.

The good: the movie does a fantastic job portraying two narcissists. More importantly, it demonstrates the damage left in the wake of people that are consumed by their own ego. The use of narration really helped to tell the story. The bad: it turns out watching a movie about two narcissists does no make for a great viewing experience. It was almost like watching a middling documentary. follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies