Now this Indie comedy knows when to diet.
John Early dresses in drag in his directorial debut of “Maddie’s Secret,” which is an indie comedy that likes to be taken seriously. Think of it more like John Lithgow in “The World According to Garp,” instead of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in “Some Like It Hot” or the Wayans brothers in “White Chicks” or Dan Aykroyd playing Julia Child on a “Saturday Night Live” skit. Well, maybe a little on that last one.
I met him at a screening of “Stress Positions” a few years ago, and even though I admire the performances, I still thought it sold itself short with the character development. I think “Maddie’s Secret” is the better film for the ways he plays a wallflower caught in the mists of early fame, a crass diet, and what connects his issues. But despite the pathos, this movie is anything but a downer.
Early writes and directs himself as a dish washer and would-be chef named Maddie, who shares a video of herself perfecting the smash burger. It becomes such a social media hit, that she gets a promotion at work. She’s now GourMaybe’s new gourmet developer and TV host. She makes and tastes some of her desserts, which brings some fans and some complications to her new found success.
One day, she overhears her jerky boss (Connor O’Maalley) and another host (Claudia O’Doherty) commenting on her weight. So, she decides to become a bulimic, and when she has to vomit out her food, she lies to her husband Jake (Eric Rahill) about being pregnant and her lesbian co-worker and best friend Deena (Katie Berlant) about having food poisoning. And while the husband is gullible, the friend isn’t buying it.
It probably would have been nauseating if her crash diet kept going throughout the film, but Early makes the right choice of having her checked in a hospital for bulimics. Out of all the patients, she connects with Julie (Vanessa Bayer), who a crush on Nurse Kelly (Pat Regan). And joining Maddie in the hospital is Deana, who pretends to be a bulimic to get closer to her. She may have a crush on her to the point of her shouting at her with no intentions of being separate from her.
Plus, maybe it wasn’t just the comments on Maddie’s show, but maybe her lousy mother (Kristen Johnson) had something to do with her past. When she tells her mother she’s on TV, she responds: “The camera adds about ten pounds.” That’s how loving she is. And we get also a consistent ten-fifteen minute segment that comments on her bad parenting, thus providing proof that the main heroine played by a man has vulnerabilities that she needs to overcome.
“Maddie’s Secret” doesn’t have the kind of laugh-out-loud humor to elevate the comedic approach, but it does have a voice to show what Early is representing. And given his previous roles in such films as “Stress Positions” and “Eternity,” he delivers on the tone and genre. He knows when to be emotional without trying so hard, and he knows how to disguise himself as a woman without humiliating himself. He doesn’t have to; he has to speak with the right dialogue and character development. And he’s generous enough to let Berlant and Bayer have their moments of honesty and energy. And one of them isn’t supposed to exercise.
Crash diets are no laughing matter, especially when it comes to a young age, and “Maddie’s Secret” refuses to make fun of people with eating disorders. And I’m glad he focuses more on recovery than vomiting. Even in the hospital where some women throw fits, they still have personalities, and that’s healthy. I just wish we go to see the ingredients to the desserts Maddie was making here, because they do look delicious.
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