It’s 1988. An 80’s rock icon named Billy Jump (Stephen B. Thomas) accidentally gets killed in a fit of rock-star hysterics as the beer he’s drinking makes lethal contact with an electric guitar. And as we all know…beer and electricity don’t mix. Not with the human body anyway…
A corporate bitch-drone named Alexander Keaton (no relation to the guy from Family Ties…I think) is one step closer to being promoted to the head assistant’s job in his company’s computer firm. But before he can take that step he’s beheaded by a Samurai (dontcha just hate that?). The irony is not lost that Alexander (played by Scott P. Graham) works, um, worked, at a place called Samurai Tech and consequently got killed by a Samurai. If he only worked at a place called Large Breasted Women Tech, he might have felt better about the way he went.
A stereotypical mother/monster-in-law Vida (Michelle Trout) doesn’t like his son’s wife Jean (Amy Smith). She makes no secret about it. During a silent seething lunch with Jean, Vida dies. The cause of death: poisoned Tapioca.
But hark-
Inexplicably, dead people are coming back to life. They don’t want brains. They want a return to normalcy, much as anyone who came back from the dead might. Because everyone, even the dead, needs a purpose, needs a…livelihood.
Billy Jump wants his old band back, but finds it’s not as easy as it seems as the years go by. Some get old. Some get gay.
Alex Keaton returns to find that his job has been filled by…a computer. And his girlfriend has a new…girlfriend. Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to be dead and then come back to life. Speaking of pay, Alex needs a job. But what can a zombie do for work in a mostly anti-zombie working environment? How will Alex keep from losing his head…again?
Vida wants to get back at Jean. And by get back, I mean kill.
What works about Livelihood-
1) Director/writer Ryan Graham and co-writers Tracy Graham and Curtis Crispin deliver genuine laughs for most of the movie (I’ll get to the ‘most’ part later) delivering some of the sharpest lines I’ve heard in a while. It’s a lot funnier one could ever expect
2) I didn’t know this- A group of monkeys is called a troop. Funny AND informative
3) 2 instances of vomiting Tapioca pudding. Can you really ask for more than that?
4) Kris Kashgrab- the funniest character in the movie. Too bad he’s barely in it
5) “His Dick Broke Off Inside Me!!!”
6) Jean kicking the shit out of…Jean
7) Apparently all you have to do to get Acid washed Guess Jeans is fuck the majority of the debate team. Hey, if you need the pants…
A song with the phrase ‘Rigor mortis in my pants’
9) A scalpel-sharp barb at Corey Feldman and Corey Haim
10) Fux 45 News
11) “He spunked on the tachometer”
12) Apparently gay, the 80’s, zombies, shit, and sucking are all ‘in’ right now
What doesn’t work-
1) The first half of the movie is MUCH funnier than the second half…
2) A sequence involving a zombie on ecstasy isn’t as funny as it should be
3) A montage involving drummers is just dull
4) Mr. Endicott in a diaper- I can’t sleep or eat with this image in my head
5) Commercial parodies are used to transition between the 3 storylines. Problem is…they aren’t that funny.
6) Kudos to director Graham for making do with what had to be a tiny budget, but damn if some of these sets didn’t look like they were filmed in my hall closet or in a condemned where house
Overall, Livelihood is funnier than that stupid rom-com you were dragged to see last week (I promise). But how can you not recommend a movie with the line “Fucked a chick with an armadillo dressed in baby clothes”?
You just can’t…
