A Little Help

TV veteran writer-director Michael J. Weithorn takes a shot at soulfully edgy dark movie comedy with this Jenna Fischer vehicle, a tale of ordinary domestic upheaval in post-9/11 suburban Long Island life. Interestingly, it’s also at least partly a study of Fischer’s prettiness and the limits thereof. When not coasting on snarky-mopey pep, production values and an earnest Jakob Dylan soundtrack, Weithorn paces scenes briskly and generously gives all his players some good bits of character business to do. It reads overall like one of those vintage sitcoms that you liked for being funny and weren’t sure about when it turned serious. Well, you won’t know if you can get behind it unless you try. Rob Benedict, Kim Coates, Daniel Yelsky and Chris O’Donnell co-star.