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Screenwriters often try to make anti-heroic characters just unpleasant enough to be “did he/she say that?” funny, but not so unpleasant that they can't convincingly be redeemed. The Bronze somehow fails at both. It’s a nice idea to spin the Kerri Strug story into the tale of Hope Ann Greggory (Melissa Rauch), who won a 2004 gymnastics bronze medal while soldiering on after an ankle injury; 12 years later, she’s bitter and pathetic, living off her celebrity in her Ohio hometown and wondering if her opportunity to coach up-and-comer Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson) is actually a chance to sabotage someone whose talents may surpass her own. Rauch throws herself into playing the helium-voiced terror, but the character always feels like merely a collection of acidic punch lines, few of which actually earn a laugh. And by the time we’re expected to believe that she’s learning Important Life Lessons, she has been established as wretched beyond hope of salvation. A set piece involving the way two gymnasts would have sex provides a rare hint of the wild romp this could have been if there’d been any reason to care about Hope.
Official Site: sonyclassics.com/thebronze
Director: Bryan Buckley
Producer: Stephanie Langhoff, Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Bryan Buckley, Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch and M. Cuddy
Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Haley Lu Richardson, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong, Dale Raoul, Brian Binder and Christine Abraham
Director: Bryan Buckley
Producer: Stephanie Langhoff, Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Bryan Buckley, Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch and M. Cuddy
Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Haley Lu Richardson, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong, Dale Raoul, Brian Binder and Christine Abraham
