Kabluey

Plot synopsis:
Leslie, whose husband is in Iraq, is in danger of losing her benefits if she does not return to work.
Salman, her brother-in-law, arrives in her town to help watch over Leslie's two kids. In part this is due to Salman's having no other place to go. He seems a bit spacey and was fired from his last job at a copy shop because he enjoyed laminating so much that he laminated everything in the store that was laminatable (including the money in the till).
Leslie's eldest son, Cameron, takes an instant dislike to Salman and threatens to kill him. Her other son Lincoln follows his lead. Salman's difficulty in handling the two hyperactive children does not impress Leslie, so she asks him to leave. Unfortunately that's not an option as Salman has no money and nowhere to go.
So, struggling for answers and a way to keep things from falling apart, Leslie finds Salman a job at her company. They will trade off working and watching after the kids. Leslie does not realize that the job Salman gets is as a blue-costumed corporate mascot called "Kabluey". Salman's job as Kabluey is to hand out flyers (advertising office space) on the side of the road for her company, a faltering dot-com called BluNexion. The costume has its unique challenges, being extremely hot inside and having no fingers on the hands, forcing him to grip the flyers under his arms. Standing on the side of the road also seems completely pointless - as the only people who drive by are farmers who don't need office space. Kabluey (the mascot) also interacts with passing road workers, and an insane woman (who lost all of her money investing in BluNexion in an ENRON type scandal) who constantly drives by and even tries to kill Kabluey with her car. Despite all this, Salman finds strange confidence through his suit and alter ego - and his life begins to change.
Salman is asked to entertain at a birthday party in the suit. He manages to gain the respect of Cameron and Lincoln in the process. He later discovers Leslie is having an affair with her boss Brad but is afraid to confront the issue. When he later discovers that Brad is sleeping with another woman, he attacks Brad (wearing the costume) while Brad is in a motel room with the other woman, but not before calling Leslie to the scene.
Confronted with the reality of the situation, Leslie slaps Salman and walks away, but later breaks down in Salman's arms. She tells him that she never loved Brad and never planned on leaving her husband, that the situation had simply developed due to stress and as a way to keep money coming in. Leslie's husband returns home to a family happy to see him, and Salman disappears.

Tags: comedy, satire

Review:
I saw Kabluey, and after hearing many good things about it, I have to say it probably is one of 2008's best surprises.Technically, it is from 2007, but it came out this year.
Scott Prendergast plays his character of the loser brother-in-law Salman very well, and he makes my line-up of Best Actor(but will eventually fall out).
The basic premise of 'Kabluey' may sound familiar but this non-glamorous, non-polished and subtle film stays true to life.
Skillfully downplayed, in the beginning her character is not very likable but one does sense Leslie's pain and despair and gradually sympathize with her as Kudrow peels the layers exposing the depth of this working mother.
Then you see Leslie's house which is at times cluttered and at times tidy but never does it feel like 'a home' because it doesn't look like it's being taken care of.It is the treatment Prendergast gives to 'Kabluey' that makes it such an original, refreshing, funny but also uplifting film.
In addition, I really liked the unconventional soundtrack and the little animated feature that appears during the end credit.Prendergast has created a little gem and 'Kabluey' has been a delight to watch.
Logically, I know it shouldn't be surprising to see a low-budget film capture characters that are so real, and yet do parody and comedy so well.
Then I saw "Kabluey." For the first half of the film I was laughing my head off, not only at the sheer outrageousness of it all but also at Scott Prendergast's brilliance at building gag on top of gag, making you laugh harder at each one until by the end of his "stack" you're literally screaming with joy.
Let's hope Scott Prendergast keeps making simple, unpretentious and utterly hilarious movies like this..
Scott Prendergast, the writer, director, and star of the film, made a very creative comedy that's so much fun to watch.Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) needs help taking care of her two wild kids because her husband is off fighting in Iraq.
Her brother-in-law Salman (Prendergast) decides to help out, after all, he needs a place to stay anyway after recently getting fired.
And somehow Salman manages to get a job as a mascot for Leslie's company.I loved this movie, it's a very clever script.
Sure, it's sort of a familiar story about a guy trying to look after some wild kids, but there are so many original and inventive moments throughout, especially the entire story of Salman as the office mascot.
Every moment she's on screen is hysterical, she's so perfect at comedy, I wish she had a movie of her own.There are many huge laughs throughout this film.
Scott Prendergast captured the socially-inept, guy-that-never-got-his-act-together-after-high-school character pretty well and manages to drive the story with very little actual dialogue, emotion or expression, which is kind of the point of his character.
After the film ended, Prendergast tells us that his co-star, Lisa Kudrow, actually phoned him up one morning and told him in person she'd do the film.
Apparently, after she signed on, several other stars (including Teri Garr and Christine Taylor) followed suit.Not only is the cast of characters spot on, but the film itself certainly delivers a wide spectrum of joyous emotions.
Either way, I was quite amused and had a smile on my face the entire time.The quirky concept of the film is an oddball kind of guy, Salman, trying to help his sister-in-law with her two, non-stop ruckus driven brats, while her husband is away in Iraq.
Salman ends up getting a seemingly useless job as a guy who dresses up in a huge blue, faceless suit and hands out flyers promoting office space for rent at a glorious expanse of a building so large and magnificent and yet, so empty.
In a nutshell, the story concerns a woman(Lisa Kudrow)desperate for some help taking care of her kids while her husband is off fighting in Irak.
He eventually gets a job wearing a ridiculous blue suit and handing out fliers in the middle of a highway to promote an Internet company( check out the poster to see this thing).
A lot of the humor comes from the blue suit and the character's difficulty in doing such simple things as handing out fliers or drinking while wearing it.
She's hateful and funny, a really good performance.And newcomer Scott Prendergast, co-star, writer and director does a unique turn here as the black-sheep weirdo who becomes a kind of superhero that saves the family.
The blue suit joke drew one chuckle, and they beat that device into the ground, negating it.Is anyone truly as obtuse and socially comatose as the Salman character, played by Scott Pendergrass?
In between I had my eyes in tears both the laughs and touchy scenes.Being a single parent with two children to take care of, is really a handful for Leslie(Lisa).
Things don't get any better with the children's slightly retarted Uncle(Leslie's brother-in-law Salman) is assigned to take care of them.
Salman also gets a job to make his ends meet and so the blue outfit promoting real estate space.
But yes, it has an inspiring quality that makes it beautiful and a must watch.Note: Lisa Kudrow wasn't Phebe Buffe, but I think she's great in any kind of role..
It's quirky throughout, laugh out loud funny at times, and has the deadpan sensibility of indie film gems like "Rushmore" and "Napoleon Dynamite".The movie starts out by introducing Leslie (Lisa Kudrow), an Army wife whose husband is stationed in Iraq.
Leslie then learns about her husband's 32-year-old brother Salman (pronounced how it's spelled), who doesn't have a job or a home for that matter.Salman, played by writer and director Scott Prendergast, is the 21st century version of a vagrant.
Salman arranges with Leslie to watch the kids while she works to pay off the children's Medicare and other expenses.
Salman in turn would stay at her house and work until he is back on his feet.The premise so far sounds like a family comedy, but it's far more original than that.
It's also funny when he discovers that the only way to use the bathroom is through the zipper in the butt area of the costume, resulting in his having to temporarily wear the costume backwards.There are many interesting subplots in this film, and they all come together very well to reveal a lot about the characters.
Her situation is entirely understandable, and she's one of the best things about this movie.When I saw Prendergast, I couldn't help but think of Ben Stiller.
There are times when characters like the one played by Teri Garr, could've been more developed and not as random and cruel.The 'beer can scene' is hilarious and shows the true comic talent of Prendergast.
I thought the blue suit idea had a lot of potential and would take the main character on all sorts of wild adventures with all kinds of characters, however many dragged out boring scenes of the same characters (mad woman driving past in Ford Capri trying to run him over), which were unfunny in the first place consumed a fair proportion of this God-awful movie instead.
The storyline was boring (Father goes off to Iraq and brother takes care of his kids and his wife gets him a job, because she is fed up with him) and the acting was atrocious.
Honest to God there was not one thing I could say I mildly enjoyed about this film, except for when the credits appeared and I knew that this nightmare was finally over.STAY CLEAR.P.S. I am normally generous in rating movies.
I gave it a 4.Most people won't like this movie because it doesn't pertain to violence, action, horror -- its a Drama of a real life situation for a lady, a family, a brother, a uncle..
When Kabluey strips away the quirks, humans emerge and the story moves the viewer.The story opens with Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) hiding in the closet from her two menacing children and speaking with her mother-in-law about how overwhelming her life has become since her husband left for Iraq.
In order to help with bills Salman takes the job of a giant blue company mascot.
The mascot suit proves a fantastic comic device and makes for excellent visuals and funny physical gags.As Salman settles in to his new life, he discovers myriad problems.
Released in 2017 and directed/written by Scott Prendergast, "Kabluey" is an offbeat dramedy starring Prendergast as the bumbling black sheep of the family who comes to town to help his sister-in-law (Lisa Kudrow) & two unholy terror nephews after his brother is deployed to Iraq.
just an independent film proposing a blue little man looking for his small slice of happiness.
Lisa Kudrow does a real great job and the kids are the best ingredient for a story about self definition in basic terms.
It's the kind of film that will make you dread the next morning, or even the forthcoming hours of the day, but will rub you on the back in hopes to give you some energy.The film is the brainchild of first time writer/director/actor Scott Prendergrast, who plays Salman, who goes to live with his sister-in-law Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) since her husband's term of duty in Iraq has just been extended.
In the mix of this lurid situation, Salman accepts a job offering from Leslie, who works for BluNexion, an internet company facing an enormous decline in sales.
The job comes with the vague title of "maintenance," and results in Salman having to work an untold amount of hours a day, for $6 and hour, wearing a featureless, bulky blue costume with an oversized-head on the side of a lonely country road.
I'm curious to know how many of them currently feel how Salman does in life.The amazing thing about the film is how easy it is achieves its morose state of being.
There are times when I sincerely wanted to dive into Salman's head just to hear and see his motivations, thoughts, and internal processes of thinking since the character releases such little depth and color on-screen ("but what does he have left?" is the question).
It's not often you think about characters this deeply long after a film concludes.Starring: Scott Prendergast, Lisa Kudrow, Conchata Ferrell, Teri Garr, and Christine Taylor.
Scott Prendergast wrote, directed and stars in "Kabluey!," an indie comedy that's as quirky and offbeat as its title."Friends"' Lisa Kudrow stars as Leslie, a small town woman whose husband has been off fighting in Iraq for a year and a half and whose two unruly sons are more than this harried, overstressed mom can reasonably cope with on her own.
Enter Prendergast as Salman (like Salman Rushdie, he proudly proclaims), Leslie's ne'er-do-well but well-intentioned brother-in-law who comes to live with the family and ostensibly offer his assistance - though Salman may be in as much need of help as Leslie and the kids."Kabluey!" is distinguished primarily by its droll and understated visual humor, which comes primarily through the humiliating costume Salman is forced to don for his job delivering flyers advertising a flat-lining dot.com company to utterly uninterested and even dismissive passersby.
Salman has been pretty much a failure his entire life, but he soon discovers that , even though he can lose himself and even take a proactive role by hiding his identity in the suit, it is ultimately only by shedding the costume that he can hope to grow up a bit and become a responsible, fully functioning adult."Kabluey!," like most idiosyncratic independent comedies, captures the capricious flakiness of the people and environs of small-town life and the special quality of alienation that seems to reside in such places - and no one is more faceless and alienated than Salman when he's stuck in that suit.
Its talented cast also includes Terri Garr (Kudrow's real-life mother and perfect voice-match), Christine Taylor, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and "SNL" and "Portlandia"'s Chris Parnell.It's a nicely atmospheric look at post-9/11 America, one that mixes humor and pathos in roughly equal measure..
Scott Prendergast wrote, directed, and stars in this disheveled tale of a dejected 32-year-old sad-sack who goes to stay with his sister-in-law and two destructive little nephews after her soldier-husband has been deployed overseas; he earns his keep as a babysitter, and even gets a job handing out flyers while dressed in a foam-rubber costume, but time is running out for him becoming a useful member of this household.
It's a thin basis for the plot of a feature film; Prendergast knows where he wants to take this story (and his character, in particular), but he chews up too much time getting us to that proverbial arc.
Why not invite her hubby's brother, Salman (Scott Prendergast, who also wrote and directed the movie), who is between jobs, to come and make an extended stay?
Leslie already has one, after all, while Salman gets a job with her company.
He gets a job at an Internet company where he dons a huge blue suit and stands on the side of the street handing out flyers.It's a hilarious scenario as his life couldn't sink any lower, and its hilarious to watch.
Kabluey is the story of Salman (Scott Prendergast, who hands in a fantastic performance, and also wrote and directed the film quite nicely), an almost no skilled man who goes to live with his brother's wife, Leslie (Lisa Kudrow).
Prendergast has made a triple threat film, he does a great job acting, writing, and directing all in one.
The premise is completely unbelievable- as the man in the blue suit, Salman gets invited to entertain kids at a kid's birthday party, except you would think they would hire a clown.
That said, if you're willing to leave the real world for two hours, and have a good old time, then Kabluey is the movie for you..
Not many things in life are worth watching that will inspire you to laugh at other people's crazy situations more than this film.
Filmed in and around Austin, TX, this 86 minute film wins you heart by captivating you with a surrealistic story-line that depicts the players lives as pure chaos.Our hilariously funny young man Scott Prendergast makes his feature film debut as the lead role, director, and writer.
This sort of life imitating art is perfectly balance off as Salman (Prendergast) is suddenly thrust into the middle of his sister-in-law Leslie's (Lisa Kudrow) miserable situation as a wife with two small bratty kids trying to make ends meet while her husband serves another tour in Irag.It's quite hard to pick up on but Suze (Teri Garr) is supposedly the mother of Leslie (Lisa Kudrow).
This actually happened once before on Friends (1994) with Phoebe's character.The most disturbing things about this film, is that Salman has no way of controlling his two nephews, Lincoln (Landon Henninger) and Cameron (Cameron Wofford).
This is the tough crowd into which Scott Prendergast presents Kabluey!.Norminally, the story involves a man named Salman (as I said, Quirky Indie Comedy, nobody is named Ellen or Abbie or Scott, they're named Juno and Olive and Salman, played by our writer/director, Prendergast), inept and fired from every job he has (most recently as a laminator who got fired for...overlaminating), who is contacted by his sister-in-law (Lisa Kudrow) after her husband's stop-loss National Guard duty in Iraq is extended and she risks losing her health insurance unless she can get a job.
A strong performance from Lisa Kudrow, however, keeps the less artful moments of the film from dragging the whole thing down.Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) is a woman with a two-story house in the suburbs, a husband off serving in Iraq and two little boys (Cameron Wofford and Landon Henninger) who are so out of control that Dr. Spock would have beaten them with a belt.
Needing to go back to work or her kids will lose their health insurance, Leslie reluctantly calls in Salman (Scott Prendergast), her husband's sad sack loser of a brother.
As soon as he does, Leslie feels her place as mother threatened and gets Salman a job at her work so he can help pay for daycare.
Salman gets stuck in big blue suit that makes him look like a featureless, hydrocephalic Smurf and plopped along the side of the road to hand out fliers for office space in the internet firm's largely empty building.Being a weird looking blue thing allows Salman to bond with his almost-feral nephews, interact with a sunken-eyed supermarket cashier (Angela Sarafyan), enrage an old woman (Teri Garr), discover that Leslie is having an affair with her boss (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and gain the confidence to act that he's lacked his entire life.
The story then ends with one of those "happy, but really not" endings that actually works for this movie.Every moment that Salman is in costume, Kabluey is funny, clever and visually entrancing.
Every moment he's out of costume, Kabluey is just another indy flick trying to find humor in how much life sucks.
If it had been about Leslie putting on the hydrocephalic Smurf suit, this movie would have instantly become 100% better.Writer/director/actor Scott Prendergast created something intelligent, entertaining and even a bit touching.
She has to return to work to make ends meet.Salman is a man that has not amounted to much in his life.
The only good thing that comes out of this job is getting hired for a birthday party where he is offered a hundred bucks for entertaining the kids that are mesmerized looking at him when they go by.
Written and directed, as well as acted by Scott Prendergast, this indie comedy has its heart in the right place.
The film works because Salman is not judgmental about anything.
He walks through situations where nasty minded individuals thinks he is incapable of doing anything right, and yet, he proves he is way above everyone.As Salman, Scott Prendergast does a deadpan take on the character he created.
Lisa Kudrow plays Leslie, a small, but effective role as the harried mother with big problems she cannot solve.