The Marc Pease Experience

A limo driver (Jason Schwartzman) basks in warm memories of high school—even as his former teacher (Ben Stiller) despises him—and clings to delusional dreams of success with his a capella singing group, even as members flake away one by one. Barely released last summer, the movie (co-written by Jacob Koskoff and director Todd Louiso), like its sad-sack hero, is not really bad; it’s rather sweet, even. But it is inconsequential and more than a little halfhearted; in the end, despite earnest work all around, we’re not given any convincing reason to care about this mopey little dweeb, his phony-baloney ex-mentor (Stiller on sleazeball overdrive) or his too-young girlfriend (winsome Anna Kendrick). Still, there are pleasures in it, which may shine brighter now that home video has cut it down to size.