The Polka King

(spoiler free)

So, picture this. I sat down with a cup of tea and some biscuits, turned on ‘The Polka King’, and thought to myself, “Hey, let’s enjoy some hot trash“. But alas, I was pleasantly surprised.  ‘The Polka King’ is one of a slew of Netflix movies in which you can tell the big executives were approached with the concept, and went, “huh, why not?”. Based on real-world Polka star Jan Lewan (Jack Black), who in the midst of his popularity, began a Ponzi scheme and ripped off millions of dollars from his elderly fans. The Polka King documents his rise and fall, while showing his relationship with his family, his best friend and the elderly individuals who adored, and then despised him.

While, at first glance, many people would see Jack Black’s performance as Jan Lewan as hammy and over-the-top, after spending some time researching this strange individual, you can tell that Black captured him perfectly. A truly quirky individual, played by an equally as quirky actor. I don’t think I could imagine anyone else cast in this role!  Speaking of casting however, the strongest elements to this comedy are definitely  the actors involved. Jason Shwartzman, no stranger to quirky characters, fits perfectly as Mikey Pizzazz, Jan’s best friend and member of his band. As does Jenny Slate, cast as Marla, the wife of Jan Lewan. But in my opinion, the standout star was Jacki Weaver as Barb, Jan’s mother-in-law. Most of her scenes were truly gold, and I loved every time she was on screen. 

In regards to the narrative, the pacing was incredibly fast. There was a lot of things happening one after the other, without giving the audience the chance to think and dwell on what has occurred. ‘The Polka King’ had definitive moments that could have been played for dramatic effect, but the film opted to just skip over them and whack the audience in the face with a joke or punchline. While this film is considered a comedy over everything else, having those moments of drama and reflection would have made for much stronger story telling. But, that being said, I will praise the comedy writing. There were definite moments in which I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. While I wouldn’t consider this film a ‘laugh-a-minute’ kind of flick, there are definitely lots of brilliant comedic moments and I did have an enjoyable experience in my viewing. The weakest aspect of the film is likely the cinematography and editing, while fairly standard for a comedy of all things. Most shots fall incredibly flat, and the editing follows suit. I’m also pretty sure they used one of the ‘default’ fonts when doing the wrap-up of the movie and explaining what Jan Lewan is doing these days. 

In conclusion, the film was a solid pass. While it definitely won’t hit any ‘Best of 2018’ lists, it’s still a fun comedy about an interesting real-world individual. If you’ve got nothing else to watch, hell, I’d say check it out. It’s worth it for the few giggles at least! 

Written by Jimmy Sherwood

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Score – 5/10

Question: What is your favourite Jack Black film?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)

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