Justin Tipping's Football Horror Movie 'Him' is Meant to Be Funny

Baseball may be America's pastime, but football is the sport that best embodies the American spirit. Every game takes place inside a gladiatorial arena filled with screaming fans cheering on two teams violently ramming their bodies into one another in hopes of victory. We all know the medical consequences that come with such a rough contact sport, yet we still indulge anyway. We can't help ourselves. The NFL is so deeply ingrained into our pop culture that escaping its reach is nigh impossible, especially for the players. They are public figures who ostensibly serve as deities of sorts to a certain sect of folks. Getting onto a nationally certified team requires going through so many hoops, but "Him" posits an even darker path to throwing around the 'ol pigskin in front of millions of fans. Cameron "Cam" Cade (Tyriq Withers) has always looked up to San Antonio Savers quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) as the blueprint for who he wanted to be when he grew up. Many years later, Cam is living the dream as a football player on the rise. A potentially career-altering injury, however, cast doubt on the sport being his future. That all changes when Isaiah offers to train him as his quarterback successor. The kicker is that Cam's training ground is Isaiah's massive compound in the middle of the desert. It seems like the two will get along nicely, but it quickly becomes apparent that Cam has no idea what he's signed up for, with little room to walk away from the deal of a lifetime. "Him" is a bone-crunching blend of "Whiplash," "Ex Machina" and "Any Given Sunday" that struggles to live up to its lofty ambitions. One of the most glaring issues with the screenplay, which Tipping co-wrote with Skip Bronkie and Zack Ackers, is that it comes across as undercooked. There's some meaty thematic weight within this concerning toxic masculinity, sacrificial bloodletting and players as brand extensions; but at 96 minutes, Tipping simply doesn't have a lot of time to let Cam and Isaiah's program sink in. Now having said all of that, "Him" is kind of a hoot if you're able to roll with its goofier streak. I can't say I'm all too surprised that "Him" has been receiving a swath of negative critical reception, but one of the things I'm most surprised by is how many folks are taking this film as a straight-faced horror-thriller. It's so unserious, and purposefully so. With "Him" being a Faustian twist on pro football, it needs an actor whose presence is enough of a draw to give the impression that this red-flag-laden compound may not be as weird as it appears to be. That actor is Marlon Wayans, who steals the show in a gonzo performance I couldn't look away from. Isaiah plays the kind of mentor who effortlessly makes you believe he's your friend before showing you his true colors in increasingly deranged ways. The most chilling scene features the former star quarterback setting up an exercise where every misstep from Cam's training results in one of his squad's members getting punted in the face with a football at top speed. Isaiah deliberately draws a parallel from football to violence and ultimately gets what he's looking for at a certain point. Wayans thrives on unpredictability, for the most part. When Cam wakes up after a night of drinking and potential amorous activity, Isaiah's there in his hooded robe with a gun while laughing and threatening his future successor. We know he's going to take this personal program to some extremes, but you never quite know how. I wouldn't exactly call Wayans scary, yet he successfully taps into that toxic masculine showmanship that often results in a lot of screaming in people's faces until they get it right. It's just a shame that the film's lead doesn't make for a strong scene partner. The concept of how much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to achieve this supposed higher level of greatness noticeably falters when we don't exactly have a grasp on what's being lost. We recognize that Cam has a mom and a girlfriend back home, but his temptations into the lifestyle that could potentially alienate him from them rings hollow because we never actually see him spend meaningful time with them. An argument could be made that, since he was molded from a young age to be the GOAT (greatest of all time), Cam is a natural blank slate who's easy to manipulate. Although I'd mostly chalk that up to a pretty emotionally empty performance that starts to go places in this movie's bonkers finale. The screenplay, coupled with Withers' performance, stunts the film from becoming the ultimate horror response to CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and the industry's lecherous practices as a whole. The best way to view "Him" is as a dark comedy about what happens when you fall into bed with capitalistic figures who care more about how much you're worth. In case you didn't know what kind of movie you're watching, Julia Fox plays Elsie, Isaiah's influencer wife who enters the movie filming a video for jade egg sex toys while resembling Effie Trinket from "The Hunger Games." I swear she gets paler with every scene. The added inclusion of comedy figures like Tim Heidecker and Jim Jeffries in supporting roles clues you in to the film's humorous nature. It's supposed to be funny. Tipping presents "Him" through a hallucinogenic frame of mind that makes you question whether what you're even seeing is real or not. It's a good-looking film that often resembles the quick cut sheen of music videos. One of its most inspired visuals is this x-ray vision that lets us see, hear and feel the bone-scraping fragility of bodies being pushed to their limit. Not every visual metaphor stands out, but the escalation in that last third really hammers in how funny this film is. "Him" is currently playing in theaters nationwide.