Jeff Garlin: Young And Handsome

“My wife is not my soul mate. She’s not. I love her, I’m not going anywhere, but she’s not my soul mate. I don’t think your soul mate should be constantly disappointed in you.” And so begins Jeff Garlin’s first stand-up film, with a line that could be describing his Curb Your Enthusiasm persona, Jeff “Fat F*ck” Greene.

With a range of subjects from his domestic life, to how a Krispy Kreme donut saved his life, to being part of an odd trio with Kid Rock and the Chicago lead singer at a baseball game, Garlin proves himself an engaging storyteller, given to going off-topic on subjects including Kit-Kat Caramels and the grammatically correct use of "said" and "says", with a good eye for observational comedy and a decent one-liner (“Some people say the first year of marriage is toughest. I say the last one is”).

Young And Handsome offers the kind of unpolished performance that works well live, but occasionally doesn’t translate so successfully onto DVD – something hinted at with the amount of times Garlin refers to the fact that they’ll edit the performance afterwards. Directed by Bob Odenkirk (of Mr Show and Tim and Eric fame) in an unflashy way, befitting the intimate hometown Chicago Second City style, Young And Handsome is a frequently amusing but rarely hilarious way of spending 65 minutes.

Stepping into the spotlight, Garlin deserves a moment to shine, although he probably shouldn’t quit the day job.