Filmmakers and producers took long enough to figure out that the only thing to do with Marc Maron is to let him be Marc Maron. GLOW lets him do that, much to that show’s benefit, and so does Lynn Shelton’s inviting new comedy Sword of Trust.
Maron, in another slight variation on his actual crotchety personality, plays Mel, a pawn shop owner who gets embroiled in an underground network of conspiracy theorists when he tries to help a lesbian couple (Michaela Watkins and Jillian Bell) sell off a Union Army sword that somehow proves the South actually won the Civil War.
As with most of Shelton’s work, the plot becomes incidental, letting these characters riff, argue, and reveal intimate parts of their lives. But as the story takes its ambling steps forward, it deepens considerably. The comedic aspects become richer with the arrival of Halt and Catch Fire‘s Toby Huss as a gruff Confederate enthusiast who goes by the name of Hog Jaws, and, in one touching scene, Maron takes a spotlight turn with an extended monologue that tracks the long road that led his character to an Alabama pawn shop. You’ve heard Maron get this emotional during the opening moments of his podcast WTF, but seeing the tenderness and flickers of agony play across his scruffy face makes for a far more affecting experience, taking this film from a pleasant diversion to something close to greatness.
Sword of Trust opens Fri July 26. Read more of the Mercury‘s award-winning* movie and TV coverage!
*Coverage is not actually award-winning.