Addicted to Fresno

Simply put, Addicted to Fresno isn’t funny enough to get away with how ultimately pointless the story is nor how unlikable its characters are.

Addicted to Fresno is about two unlikable sisters, Martha and Shannon. After Shannon gets out of rehab, they begin working at a hotel together. They have a series of unfunny misadventures including covering up a death and grow closer as people. There is also a subplot about how Martha has an ex-girlfriend she is not over. Meanwhile, Kelly, played by Aubrey Plaza is interested in Martha. 

The lesbian aspect of Addicted to Fresno is unsurprisingly my favourite part. Maybe if this movie had Martha as the main character, shoved the love plot between her and Aubrey Plaza into the main plot and had the death covering up and the robberies etc as wacky B-plots, I would’ve liked this movie more. As it was, the lesbian plot line was too underdeveloped. This movie really underutilized the selling point of having Aubrey Plaza playing a queer character.

Addicted to Fresno is a dark comedy and that’s why it fails. Dark comedy is a difficult genre to pull off given the juxtaposition of tone in its core concept. Like many other movies, Addicted to Fresno is neither dark enough or comedic enough to work. It just ends up a a movie that asks us to laugh at things that aren’t that funny.

I’m starting to wonder if director Jamie Babbit is a one-hit wonder when it comes to WLW movies. As much as I love But I’m a Cheerleader, the rest of her WLW films have been quite poor. Addicted to Fresno is, unfortunately, not a return to form for her. It is an unfunny, dull movie full of wasted talent and wasted potential.

Overall rating: 4.5/10

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