The film opens at a performance of Jan Lewan's (Black) polka band in Pennsylvania. Near the close of the show, he brings his wife Marla (Slate) onstage. A former beauty queen, Marla is modeling some jewelry that Lewan sells at his souvenir store. After the concert, Jan recounts to a happy concertgoer how he and Marla met, and how he has worked every terrible job imaginable, from dishwasher to janitor, in order to achieve the American dream.
The clarinetist in his band, Mickey (Schwartzmann), visits Jan at his gift shop in order to quit the band. Jan takes him to a pizza restaurant nearby, and urges him to stay, promising him more money. Mickey feels that Jan has enlarged the band to an unsustainable size, and he reveals that other members are thinking of quitting, especially after a rumor that Jan had hired a dancing bear to accompany the shows. Jan admits that the bear is now part of their act, but he insists that better times are ahead. He then picks up a pizza, and heads out to deliver it.
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MPAA Rating: | PG-13 |
Genre: | Biography, Comedy, Drama |
Country: | United States |
Produced By: | Jack Black, David Permut, Ben Stiller, Chris Mangano, Shivani Rawat, Stuart Cornfeld, Priyanka Mattoo, Monica Levinson |
Directed By: | Wallace Wolodarsky, Maya Forbes |
Written By: | Wallace Wolodarsky, Maya Forbes |
Cast: | Bruce-Robert Serafin, Jack Black, Brandon Scales, Lance Norris, Wendy Hartman, Jed Griswold, J.B. Smoove, Arthur Hiou, Harold Rudolph, Jessica Baade, Kati Salowsky, Americo Presciutti, Robert Capron, Shawn Contois, Ted Siok, Jacki Weaver, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Pasquale Dalessio, Leonel Severino, Rich Rothbell, Juani Feliz, Alex Ziwak, Willie Garson, Rachel Annette Helson, John Franchi, Richard Pacheco, Benjamin James Chaplin, Jordan Lloyd, Lino Tanaka, Kevin Daigneault, Alexa Hartman, Angel Connell, Vanessa Bayer, Owen Burke, Brina |
In Theaters: | Jan 12, 2018 |
Runtime: | 1 hour 35 minutes |
Production: | Red Hour Films, Electric Dynamite, Permut Presentations |
Available On: | Netflix |