Wonderful Collection of Oddballs...Like A 1970s Film

All the characters are so well crafted that they felt like people you might meet at a bar. The conversations between Mel & Nathaniel and Mary & Cynthia were genuine & funny (not an easy thing to pull off). I don't know if the dialogue was all in Lynn Shelton's script or if she let the actors improvise, but it was perfect.

Maron was excellent, but Michaela Watkins was the standout. Her comic timing is just so good. The "Battle of Chickenfoot" scene in the shop was the best laugh I've had in ages.

It's a shame the world lost Shelton's voice. She was a gem of a filmmaker.

Describing her approach to comedy...
When we were on set, it was really essential that none of us—not the actors or myself either—think that we're in “a comedy,” because that's when I find (especially with improvisation) you start reaching for jokes. You start sort of “soft-shoeing,” and trying to entertain people, and I don’t want that. I want us to just always be playing to the truth of the scene and I really have no idea how many laughs there are going to be. We're playing it so straight that it's really hard to tell the forest for the trees.