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From the 1990s through the 2000s, it was common to see over-the-top character comedies set inpro sports.Dodgeball,Baseketball, andSemi-Prohelped define over a decade of sports films, each parodying the larger sports complex in turn.The Gutter— directed by Isaiah and Yassir Lester — takes aim at the environment around sports superstardom. At the same time, it features enough absurd and boisterous comedy that it delivers the laughs. WhileThe Gutterruns out of steam occasionally, leaning too heavily into tropes when it does, the overall result is a surprisingly fun comedy.
The GutterPlot
Walt (Shameik Moore) struggles to maintain employment because he’s unwilling to change his style. After getting fired from several jobs, he finally catches on as a bartender at a local bowling alley, aptly named AlleyCatz. When the owner Mozell (Jackée Harry) needs $200,000 to save the alley, bar regular and former pro bowler Skunk (D’Arcy Carden) realizes Walt’s unrealized bowling talents could land him on a pro tour. The plan becomes an instant success, and Walt is hailed as a phenom. However, former superstar Linda Curson (Susan Sarandon) returns to the sport as Walt threatens to break her records.
The Gutterexecutes low-brow humor at an astonishing pace.
IfThe Gutterhits your funny bone, the writers and direction deserve a ton of credit. Throughout the movie, hundreds of jokes are thrown at the audience. Many miss the mark or inspire a light chuckle. However, the Lesters also pull some jokes out of thin air, making it impossible to ignore the involuntary chortles to come. Aiming their screenplay at the world of sports media and the power structures that maintain “order” givesThe Guttera surprising edge. This allows the one-liners and repetitious jokes to gain more power as the story unfolds.
Like Adam Sandler comedies or the work of Matt Parker and Trey Stone, the absurd places the humor lands make it critic-proof. It’s never random for the sake of being random, but instead, it feels like honest conversations these characters would think are worthy of their time. In nearly all cases, the characters are wrong, but the Lesters correctly identify how funny it would be to have each actor drop their one-liners.The Gutternever pretends the jokes are not offensive. Some will register as the most shocking things you’ll hear in a comedy this year. Yet this is a classic case of depiction does not equal endorsement, using offensive humor to parody the large sports ecosystem.
Moore, Carden, and Paul Reiser are game to push buttons.
The line between parody and bad-faith humor is often very thin. Yet to deliver the lines well, you need actors willing to commit to selling the joke. For Carden, this has never been an issue. AfterThe Good PlaceandBarry, many knew Carden had the goods to nail jokes as a supporting character. InThe Gutter, she’s a true second lead and makes the transition easily. She’s willing to show the absurdity of Skunk’s motivations and still ground them in something earnest. Whether she’s questioning Walt’s motives (“You have to drop it”) or realizing that his approach offends her (“Yeah, that still doesn’t feel right”), Carden sells the humor.
It’s also nice to see Moore jump to the top of a live-action call sheet. He showed incredible promise as an actor inDopebut has primarily found success in recent years as Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films. Moore has to walk an extremely fine line inThe Gutter. It plays into tropes around instant celebrity, causing the wrong kinds of people to join your entourage.
Additionally, some jokes Moore utters are aimed at the underserved audience that might check The Gutter out. At the same time, it’s highly critical of white savior storylines about women who “discover and create” talent in black men. Moore has to play into the tropes from those other films but also gets to dismantle some of these ideas in the real world. Even with Moore, some jokes miss, but imagine how rough this might have been had Moore joined.
WhileThe Gutterfeatures dozens of recognizable improv comics in bit parts (Paul Scheer, Nelson Franklin, Jay Ellis, and Rell Battle all shine),Paul Reisertakes the movie over. As the announcer of a show called “Bowl Lives Matter,” you mostly know what you’re in for. He’s not only disrespectful of Walt (he never learns his name), but his idiocy is only exceeded by his arrogance. Reiser captures a particular kind of sports and cultural commentator and lambasts them with this portrayal. At the same time, he’s so funny that we would love to see him in a booth with Fred Willard fromBest in Showand Jason Bateman inDodgeball. Reiser steals the movie for minutes at a time.
Last but not least isSusan Sarandon. She’s funny, especially as her chain-smoking becomes her defining character trait. However, we’ve seen Sarandon play similar roles in her sleep. It’s not bad, but it’s unlikely you’ll think much of her character. Instead, Moore, D’Arcy, and Reiser will stick.
IsThe Gutterworth watching?
In many ways,The Gutteris the perfect low-commitment comedy. You’ll laugh a lot, but it’s not trying to reinvent the world cinematically. Some of the humor will offend, but many more jokes will casually pass by.Adopting the joke-a-minute approach helpsThe Gutterget so many opportunities to warm the audiences’ hearts that its nostalgic approach to the studio comedy will help it find strong defenders.
Watch The Gutter in theatersand on VOD starting July 04, 2025. Magnolia Pictures distributes.
The Gutter Review — An Uneven But Funny Old School Character Comedy
Alan French
Film/TV Critic
Articles Published :280
Alan French began writing about television and film by covering the Emmys and Oscar beats in 2016. Since then, he has written hundreds of reviews on TV and movies. He attends film festivals regularly. He is a Rotten Tomato-approved critic and is on the committee for the Critics Association of Central Florida.
