For those looking for a circus of the stars with corpse hopscotch, step right up to the entrancing dark comedy The Trouble With Jessica, directed by Matt Winn from a script by Winn and James Handel. Over in London, Tom (Alan Tudyk) is whipping up his famous dessert for the dinner he and his wife Sarah (Shirley Henderson) are hosting at their house. He then gets a call from their guests, Richard (Rufus Sewell) and Beth (Olivia Williams), who are their oldest friends.
Tom has to deliver the news to Sarah that Jessica (Indira Varma), whom Tom has known since college, has invited herself to the dinner. Sarah doesn’t like Jessica, viewing her as a self-absorbed leech who made it big in the literary world. It doesn’t help that being published hasn’t changed the fact that Jessica is very rude, stepping all over everyone’s toes in rather distasteful ways. She seems to be determined to dominate the spotlight all evening as well as bring everyone down.
“First, they have to cut Jessica down, then they need to figure out why…”
And she finds the perfect way to succeed: she hangs herself in the garden when no one is looking. First, they have to cut Jessica down, then they need to figure out why such a talented spirit would snuff itself out so early. Just kidding, because what they really need sort out is what to do about the mess Jessica has gotten everyone into. Because it is going to get very messy before dessert is finally served.
The title and concept of The Trouble With Jessica is a direct homage to Hitchcock’s dead body comedy The Trouble With Harry, with the phrase “the trouble with” used for several increasingly amusing chapter titles throughout the picture. Winn manages to match Hitchcock in the suspense department while being way funnier than the master.
"…manages to match Hitchcock in the suspense department while being way funnier..."
