There's been a great deal of chatter about misanthropic humor in comedy lately, what with the impending release of Observe & Report. The Snake takes things yet further, with a premise that's pretty sociologically depraved. Adam Goldstein plays Ken, who is intent on seducing a young woman wrestling with bulimia. It's difficult to paint your way out of something like that, and they don't entirely succeed.

They avoid the lion's share of micro-feature cliches, instead relying on a raw character sketch of the most repellant character you could imagine. They refuse to pull punches to the point I finished the film wondering whether I hated the movie or just the main guy, Ken.

I eventually came to the conclusion that I stuck with him to see if he would go yet a step further, if that's even possible. It's hard to watch at times, because I know there are real guys out there trying to take advantage of women like Talia, Ken's bulimic prey.

The movie itself doesn't fall into the category of things I could watch over and over, bu that isn't to say it doesn't work. Some things are great to re-watch, others are better to have seen just once. Yet others are great to have seen and put on for a friend, saying "you've gotta see this, it's fucked up" when you've got some laundry and housekeeping to do.

Goldstein throws himself so unapologetically into playing Ken, this is a great calling card for him on that front. Even more so, this is a great reference piece for him as a co-writer along with Eric Kutner (who also co-directed). The important thing is that they know what to keep and what to cut. As fucked up as it is to say contextually, there's no fat on this movie, and that's a good thing. Gy Odom, HE's intermittent correspondent, has an interview with the filmmakers that we're in the process of editing down to include in his coverage. Watch for it late this week.