Don’t Tell Larry Review – Strong Character Driven Performances, Dark Comedy Surprises
- Details
- Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film
- Published on Monday, 23 June 2025 10:33
- Written by Janet Walker
Don’t Tell Larry, from Level 33 Entertainment, brings to the screen a dark comedy that follows two employees as they attempt to undue a series of criminal actions which ends them in deeper, more serious trouble.
The film begins with Susan, played by Patty Guggenheim, at the top of her game, strolling into her travel service job, admiring her top earner over the last eight years wall of honor. A real go-getter, Susan, is expecting to be named the CEO, as the current CEO Bruce, played by Ed Begley Jr., is retiring.
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On this Monday, Susan begins to tell Bruce the plans for an upcoming partnership, all the pieces of the deal are in place, when from nowhere, Bruce asks her if he has met Larry, played by Kiel Kennedy. Susan has met the new guy, Larry, and as he is new she decides not to invite him to Bruce’s retirement party.
The next day, Bruce asks why Larry was not invited to the party. Feeling backed into a corner, Susan explains her reason, and suddenly Bruce is explaining his motivation for hiring Larry, and driven by guilt he explains, that he is giving the CEO position to Larry.
Susan becomes unhinged. Eight years of work, effort, dedication, and to be passed over for her rightful promotion because of guilt, a one night stand, and nepotism, and she throws a paperweight at him. It cracks the window, and he fires her.
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When Larry asks Susan, the next morning why he wasn’t invited to the retirement party, she tells him to go ask Bruce. The next thing we know is Bruce has somehow fallen from his office window and Larry is the last one to see him alive.
Once Susan realizes that Bruce had not yet told anyone that he would be passing on her for weird Larry, she decides she is no longer fired and decides to stay and manipulates her co-workers into thinking Larry is responsible.
Throughout the remainder of the week, Susan and Patrick are on a high speed disaster train and as karma begins to creep in their lives, and they are stuck in a cycle of creating trouble, as they attempt to cover their tracks, which then implodes, and then are creating more trouble to cover their tracks, and with each deceit they unleash a whirlwind of chaos.
From random drug tests and car explosions to a suspicious detective and a rising body count, Susan’s workweek spirals into a full-blown.
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Don’t Tell Larry, is a dark comedy with a strong character driven performances. It reminded me of "The Office," style comedy, a group of vicious climbers all out for themselves and thrown for a curve when the teetering on disaster dynamics come unglued after the arrival of the boss’ new project. With a deeply dark humor, Don’t Tell Larry, surprises audiences with each twist and turn of the plot.
The ensemble cast build authentic eccentric, peculiar, and toxic, characters who are so dastardly, they are hypnotic.
Don’t Tell Larry, a quirky dark comedic thriller is in limited release. See it.
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Country: U.S.
Language: English.
Runtime: 93 minutes.
Director: Greg Porper, John Schimke.
Producer: Greg Porper, p.g.a., John Schimke, p.g.a., Brad Keller.
Executive Producer: Ed Begley Jr., Barry Goodman, Robert Porper.
Writer: Greg Porper, John Schimke.
Cast: Ed Begley Jr., Dot-Marie Jones, Patty Guggenheim, Kiel Kennedy, Kenneth Mosley, Tina Parker, Heath Allyn, Molly Franco, Ronda Dale Kirk, Joe Rojas Jr., Terrence Dearman, Billy Blair, Bruce Davis.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has completed the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and is available on Amazon. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.
