The Gutter Review: A Game Cast & Charming Script Elevate Familiar Throwback To ’90s Sports Comedies

The sports genre can tell every kind of story, from a heartwarming underdog’s redemption to a swan song for an aging star or a comedic twist on the sport at hand. With Yassir and Isaiah Lester’s The Gutter, the filmmaking duo attempt to strike a chord similar to the likes of the Farrelly brothers’ Kingpin and Rick Famuyiwa’s Dope, delivering broadly humorous jokes amid a tale of an unlikely bowling superstar. And while they do often find their own unique rhythm, the movie still often largely feels too familiar to fully stand out.
The Gutter Director Isaiah Lester , Yassir Lester Release Date March 12, 2024 Writers Yassir Lester Cast Paul Scheer Susan Sarandon , Adam Brody​ , Paul Reiser , Shameik Moore , Kim Fields , D’Arcy Carden , Adam Pally Runtime 89 Minutes
The Gutter is led by Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s Shameik Moore as Walt, a ne’er-do-well twentysomething who lands a job at a local rundown bowling alley. When the owner is visited by a city inspector and given 60 days to improve the building or have it shut down, Walt and alley regular Skunk realize the former is a natural at bowling and take his skills on the professional circuit to raise enough funds to save the alley. However, when sports icon Linda Curson comes out of retirement to challenge Walt, he must determine who he’s truly playing the game for.
The Gutter’s Humor Is A Mixed Bag
The Movie Never Smoothly Jumps Between Its Broader & Wackier Strokes
The Gutter’s comedy is one of the movie’s biggest strengths, even if it never quite finds the best rhythm for the various kinds of humor it goes for. The somewhat mindless nature of Walt is generally pretty engaging to watch, further making it easier to want to root for him in his efforts to save the bowling alley. That said, some of his wackier antics — that become running jokes — also start to become a bit stale by the movie’s end, namely his frequent expressions of wanting a threesome.
…while the majority of The Gutter ‘s jokes seem to come from a place of self-awareness, they still often feel like they veer into a general blunt territory…
The other major recurring style of humor I found myself mixed on is the way it approaches calling out modern racism. Though not quite fantastical as either of his projects, the Lesters’ approach feels fairly reminiscent of Boots Riley’s work in Sorry to Bother You and I’m A Virgo, being an in-your-face means for confronting everything from sports systems being rigged against minorities to prejudiced people openly expressing racist beliefs, much to the main characters’ surprise.
This does result in some moments of hilarity, including Paul Reiser’s Angelo claiming to have created the