Self Reliance is such a weird idea for such a light comedy. I spent the whole movie saying “yeah, this is amusing… but what? Why?” It’s like the chuckle-funny version of David Fincher’s The Game.

Jake Johnson plays some average dude who is chosen to play a “dark web” Most Dangerous Game… hunters will stalk and try to kill him but If he survives for a month, he wins a million dollar. If he can stay very close to someone, the hunters can’t get him so he manically has to convince people to hang out with him 24/7/30. Happily one of those people is Anna Kendrick… so… bonus!

This flick isn’t laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes seems to meander about… but it’s always generally low-key amusing. It’s good enough at setting up a character and making him seem crazy… like the deepest levels of main character syndrome where ninjas no one else can see stalk him and random celebrities pop up to help.

There are moments where they genuinely made me wonder if our main character was crazy or if everything was supposed to be real. That curious level of what-if was actually kind of thrilling, especially in the more action-packed finale.

It’s odd, it’s quirky, and it might not be great for mental health, but it’s enjoyable and quirky and odd… and that’s something. I kind of enjoyed it.

Score: 76