Flimsy Script Undermines Comedic Gifts in Jason Biggs’ Directorial Debut

Movie fans of a certain age — you know who you are, having stayed up past your bedtimes to watch grainy black-and-white movies from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s on the family television — will likely have a soft spot for any product bearing the seal of Republic Pictures. Founded by a former newspaper vendor, Herbert J. Yates, Republic was an amalgamation of smaller studios whose stock-in-trade was low budget pictures of marginal differentiation. They were, admittedly, differentiated enough to turn cowpokes like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry into celebrities. John Ford’s “The Quiet Man” (1952) earned Republic its only Oscar win for best director, and another company picture, Nicholas Ray’s “Johnny Guitar” (1954), has since become a camp classic.Republic also had its hand in cut-rate horror movies and dabbled in noir, and Jason Biggs’ “Untitled Home Invasion Romance” can now be counted as part of that lineage. Paramount Global revived the brand in order to “continue that legacy by offering audiences great entertainment across all genres.” At the front end of Mr. Biggs’ picture we see the Republic logo through a raft of parting clouds: An enormous bald eagle perches on our purple mountains’ majesty.In “Untitled Home Invasion Romance,” which opens Friday, Mr. Biggs makes his directorial debut after having pursued acting for a quarter of a century. He achieved stardom as Jim Levenstein, a hapless high-schooler who has an erotic encounter with the titular baked good in Paul Weitz’s teen-sex comedy, “American Pie” (1999). Mr. Biggs starred in three subsequent sequels, and has since popped up here and there: He worked for Woody Allen in “Anything Else” (2003) and as a supporting character in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.”Mr. Biggs is not only helming “Untitled Home Invasion Romance;” he appears as one of its chief protagonists, struggling actor Kevin Stanwell. Actually, Kevin has gained some notoriety as “Mr. Softee,” an impish character who regularly features in television ads for — no, not ice cream trucks, but erectile dysfunction medication. Take a pill and Mr. Softee takes a hike. It’s not Shakespeare, but it is a living.Mr. Softee plays a tangential role in “Untitled Home Invasion Romance,” and Mr. Biggs allows himself broader-than-usual mugging when we see a commercial for a drug named Stifloxin. The rest of the time, his comedic gifts as a put-upon schlemiel are adroitly applied. The screenplay by Joshua Paul Johnson and Jamie Napoli provides the actor with plenty of moments to squirm, stutter, and otherwise second-guess his not altogether best intentions. Mr. Biggs has his shtick down, and it’s pretty lovable.Jason Biggs in “Untitled Home Invasion Romance.” Via Republic PicturesThe opening moments of “Untitled Home Invasion Romance” detail Kevin’s meeting, romancing and betrothal to a high profile philanthropist, Suzie Stone (a regal Meaghan Rath). The story starts to roll less than a year into their marriage, when we follow the couple driving up the Henry Hudson Parkway. Kevin has planned a getaway weekend so that the couple can rekindle an already troubled relationship. He’s also put into motion a scheme in which he’s enlisted an acting buddy, Ernie (Arturo Castro), to fake a home invasion that Kevin will thwart, thereby proving himself a hero and earning back the love of Suzie. Yeah, well, that’s not how things pan out. Misguided skullduggery of this sort reached its sell-by date long before the current readership of The New York Sun was born. Knowing as much, Messrs. Johnson, Napoli and Biggs go dark to bracing effect, only to squander the credibility they’ve earned with a series of twists that are both too obvious and too loose in their stitching. The cast is bright throughout the proceedings, and clearly having a time of it which is of some recompense. But until Mr. Biggs saddles himself with less flimsy material, he’ll have some tough rows to hoe in the director’s chair.

Flimsy Script Undermines Comedic Gifts in Jason Biggs’ Directorial Debut

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