natalieauer Noel Wells excels in her directorial debut in Mr. Roosevelt. I was unfamiliar with Wells' work until viewing this film despite her work on SNL. While directing, she also plays the lead role of Emily Martin who left her home and boyfriend to pursue comedy in Los Angeles. Emily is a struggling comedian who must quickly return home as her cat, Mr. Roosevelt, is dying. While in Austin, she stays with her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend. The perfect set up for this comedy. Over the course of the movie, Emily learns much about the life she left behind and her own self. Throughout the film the viewer is dealt with awkward situations followed by Wells' quick witted humor. She has a lot of silly habits that I can relate with that make this movie more enjoyable. If you're into indie films put together by striving and thriving artists, Mr. Roosevelt is worth your viewing.

gremck This was a nice way to kill some time on a train ride. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I hope to see the lead actress in more films.

jadavix "Mr. Roosevelt" is fairly typical for an indie comedy, especially one written and directed by its star. Indie movies used to be an alternative to Hollywood in that they would show you characters and situations that were something you wouldn't ordinarily see at the multiplex. Somewhere along the line that difference became a cliche. If you want to see something different, it doesn't help that you already know what that difference is going to be. Where's the surprise? Where's the challenge?"Mr. Roosevelt" being an indie comedy means you can expect a lot of weird, off-hand lines of dialogue like "I forget what funny is", and nudity which, in a Hollywood movie, is usually a device to titillate audiences, but here just seems added to up the weird factor. It's not unusual to see an unconventional lead in an indie flick, but I think Noel Wells doesn't really have star quality. Having written and directed the movie herself, of course she also cast herself in the lead role, but they can't all be Lake Bell (from "In a World") or even Lena Dunham ("Tiny Furniture"). The camera doesn't exactly love her. While watching the movie I found myself forgetting what she looked like occasionally, which is funny since she is in every scene.The movie does have a few funny moments, though not many.The plot concerns a struggling comedian who comes back to her hometown to say fairwell to her cat, the titular Mr. Roosevelt, as her ex-boyfriend and his new squeeze must have the cat put down.The stage is obviously set for a "young person faces their past and confronts their issues" sort of movie, but here's the problem: I never believed that this character had a past, there or anywhere else, and I never believed that she cared about her cat enough to go all that way, or anything else. You can understand she might feel toward her ex's new lover, but the movie doesn't deal with them head-on, making her own feelings and motivations opaque, and making the character more distant than she ought to be.

NathanMcDunnough Mr. Roosevelt is about a struggling comedian, Emily Martin played by Noel Wells, who returns home to care for her sick cat, Mr. Roosevelt. I gotta say, Mr. Roosevelt is a great name for a cat. Even better, his first name is Teddy. She is forced to stay with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. Some good and bad times follow, and as usually happens in this sort of movie, she learns something about herself. Wells is also writer and director of Mr. Roosevelt. Wells is new to me, and I didn't know she was on SNL, and on Master of None, which I haven't watched . She is funny and likable. She gets her shtick in throughout Mr. Roosevelt. I can't say I'm a fan of her silly voices. I do love how she takes her generation to task. I kinda like Mr. Roosevelt and I kinda like Noel Wells. The movie was pretty good and it was pretty funny, and you'll see a young and funny woman shaping her craft or her craft shaping her, or whatever. But I don't think I want to see anymore movies about struggling comedians (or actors, or musicians), especially ones played by struggling comedians (or actors, or musicians).