An absurdist comedy about a woman whose life spirals into chaos, Greener Grass is set in a strange alternative world where all adults wear braces and life is not as we know it.
A surreal suburban satire in the image of absurdist shows like Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and The Mighty Boosh, it’s hard to state how bizarre everyday life is in Greener Grass. Starring writer/directors Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe as two competing soccer moms, wanting a baby, Jill (DeBoer) gives her friend Lisa (Luebbe) her own newly born, and then everything else starts to fall away around her too.
I really wanted to like the film, I like absurdist comedy, I like films that try something different, but everything about this world fell flat and I barely managed a chuckle throughout the entire 101-minute running time. Even star of the cast, Beck Bennett, so excellent on SNL really struggles here.
Once the weird starts, it just keeps coming at 100mph. There’s a kid who turns into a dog, someone who sticks a volleyball up her dress in an effort to convince everyone she’s pregnant, but the surreal world DeBoer and Luebbe have created just isn’t funny. Expanding a 15-minute short, unfortunately Greener Grass doesn’t know how to turn a skit into a something resembling a plot. No doubt a lot of e ffort into crating this strange creation – DeBoer and Luebbe definitely score an A+ for weird – but weird doesn’t always equal comedy, and this film is stark proof to that end.