I’m glad that I started collecting movies with wrestlers in them because it’s forced me to watch stuff that I used to shy away from, I probably wouldn’t have even given a film like Selling Stupid a shot 5 or 6 years. However, nowadays I’ll give anything and everything a shot even if it doesn’t star a wrestler. It’s really enriched my life.
Selling Stupid is a small budget film about two women in advertising who are thrust into a competition with two male co-workers to see who can come up with a better campaign for a well known designer’s game, One World. The problem is they don’t know the first thing about video games! These two women are Sloan, played by Roni Jonah and Evie, played by Tonia L. Carrier.
I had no expectations coming into Selling Stupid, mostly because I had just found out it existed last month due to a gif of the movie Roni posted on Facebook. I purchased a copy this month from the director and watched it today.
Tonia and Roni are not only the stars of the film, they co wrote the film along with Amy Austin. Tonia directed the film and Roni edited it. Roni Jonah is a former pro wrestler and current director and actor. I’ve covered her acting in Shark Exorcist before on this site and I’m excited to see more of her work, especially the upcoming Powerbomb which has had two premieres, one in Cleveland and one in Toledo.
Sloan and Evie work with a real special bunch of guys, by special I mean 98% of them are assholes. Their boss Eddie is a sexist pig, Chris has no clue how to treat women like human beings, and Dan is basically an incompetent lackey most of the time. Their wildly gay friend Jonah and Evie’s crush Joey are pretty much the only tolerable men in their office. The girls want to start their own advertising firm but Evie isn’t quite ready to leave her job at Eddie’s firm behind. Their journey to understand what makes video games so appealing not only brings them closer as friends but brings them a greater understanding on why people love video games!
Roni and Tonia are extremely likable as SlEvie and seeing their characters fumble their way through the film as they try to beat the boys is a joy to see. Tonia is especially charming as her interactions with her interviewees in the film are as heartfelt as they are awkward. Roni is hilarious and inappropriate as Sloan. I love her little interaction in the coffee shop when Sloan after realizing all the men in the shop are playing video games performs a saucy striptease in an attempt to see if one of the male patrons will even notice. He eventually does and her oh so smooth quip of, “Is it hot in here or is it just you?” had me laughing out loud.
This movie is full of laughs and infuriating idiotic male characters. I was either laughing, smiling, or ready to punch a dude through the film’s entire run time. Jason Crowe is one of my favorite dudes to see play a character because he takes a role and runs with it. His portrayal of Jonah is silly but endearing and he was one of my favorite parts of the movie. There is a very interesting scenario with roofies in a bar in this film that ends with some karmic comeuppance.
If you’re a fan of low-budget comedy or character development in movies, you should check out Selling Stupid. The DVD also includes a music video for the title track Game Over which I’m sure will be stuck in my head for a week and a drunken commentary that is pretty fun! Selling Stupid is a “FONTING” good time and I have a feeling I’ll be pulling it out to show some friends as well as just enjoying it by myself in the future.
From Left to Right; Roni Jonah as Sloan, Tonia L. Carrier as Evie
Jason Crowe as Jonah, left
Wrestling With Film 