Lazy Susan is a oddball undie comedy that would probably never have made it onto our screens if it hadn’t been for the presence of Sean Hayes in the title role. Hayes, who also co-wrote the script, is riding high with the very successful revival of Will and Grace and brings to this lightweight movie a groundswell of affection that will help it find an audience.
Hayes plays Susan a self-centred cis-gendered sad sack of a woman who seems to live in a fantasy world has been stuck in a rut for years. Jobless and almost totally friendless, she just skims through daily life thanks to welfare payments and sponging off her widowed mother (the marvelous Margo Martindale).
In fact Hayes has roped in several of his friends to play small supporting roles such as Allison Janney who plays Velvet an ex-school friend. Velvet has gone up in the world and even though she is now the Manager of the local KMart she is still very competitive with Susan. Strangely Janney actually looks like a better made up version of Susan!
Susan eventually lands a boyfriend , creepy Phil (Jim Rash) who turns out to be married with children, and when she finds out the truth, goes on a drunken rage which lands her in jail.
The unsurprising plot doesn’t make a big impact on us as this is really a vehicle for Hayes, and as well as giving him every opportunity for a few good one liners, it is also an exercise to showcase his ability in being able to shed his Just Jack when he wants.
The whole scenario felt dated where time has just stopped still even though it was set in present day. Which was part of a bigger dilemma with the film not knowing what it was trying to be. The humor needed to be ramped up more and possibly campy that Hayes plays so well, or maybe played like a serious drama that focused on Susan’s inability to make any attempt to fit in? Who knows, certainly not director Nick Peet making his feature film debut.
No doubt most of the reviews for this movie will end up being brutal, but all of Hayes many fans will still delight in this wee movie regardless.
P.S. Now streaming on AMAZON PRIME
