Following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight earlier this year, Owen Kline’s Funny Pages now has its trailer. Produced by the Safdie Brothers, Funny Pages follows a teenage cartoonist, Robert (Daniel Zolghadri), who abandons his cushy suburban New Jersey lifestyle in the hopes of making it in the big city. There, he encounters Wallace (Matthew Maher), a bizarre veteran cartoonist who quickly becomes something of a hero to him, and soon seems to take over his life.
The son of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates, Kline makes his directorial debut with Funny Pages.
Take a look:
The trailer recalls Terry Zwigoff’s idiosyncratic film style (clear reference points being Robert Crumb and Daniel Clowes), with nostalgic loners and comic book stores to boot. Critics have called the film absurdist, grungy and pitch-black. Car crashes, caricatures and an appearance from Safdie alum Mitchell Wenig all ensue.
Funny Pages hits theaters on August 26.