Release: Mises

 

Mises

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Director: Todd Phillips

Writer: Alex Conn

Cast: Lucas Hedges, Bo Burnham, Ian McKellen, Kevin Pollak, Allison Janney, Annasophia Robb, Jenna Fischer, Brian Austin Green, Ali Fazal, Corey Stoll, Stephen Root

Budget: $37,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $11,093,559

Foreign Box Office: $2,907,002

Total Profit: -$40,290,043

Reaction: Mises clearly turned out to be a film without a target audience (and arguably questionable genre selections). It continues a rough box office track record for many involved - namely director Todd Phillips (Rookie's Road, Joker: Folie a Deux), star Lucas Hedges (Cedar Ridge, Written By Jason), and writer Alex Conn (who now has eight box office flops in a row).

"Mises is a miss. Who is this film for? If it's for libertarians, it paints them as whiny, socially inept, perpetually online losers obsessed with Ron Paul. If it's for general audiences, they won’t care about obscure inner-party politics and will struggle to follow the plot. If it’s meant to satirize the libertarian movement, the satire is weak, and the humor is basically non-existent (unless you find sad masturbation scenes funny - which some may). No character manages to come across as likable - the odd asides are some of the most baffling in recent memory, only rivaled by some of the bizarre casting choices." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

"This isn't the bold, intense, and enthralling look at a bad guy doing something fascinating like 'The Social Network', no, this is the epitome of watching a car crash. I hate watched this by the time the third chapter arrived. While it barely skates the edges of parody, there's something real under the chaos that Hedges leads. But not enough." - Robert Avery, San Jose Mercury

"Mises attempts to chronicle the rise and fall of a young political organizer, but ultimately collapses under the weight of its own navel-gazing. The film never fully decides whether it’s a satirical take on online libertarian infighting, a genuine political drama, or a character study of a flawed but driven man. Instead, it lurches awkwardly between these tones, never offering enough depth to make its politics compelling nor enough self-awareness to be truly funny. Michael Heise’s arc is frustratingly static - he begins as a socially awkward ideologue, gains some influence, makes some mistakes, and ends as… a socially awkward ideologue. Without a clear emotional core or a reason for general audiences to care, Mises feels less like a thoughtful exploration of political ambition and more like a three-hour adaptation of niche Reddit discourse." - Cal Crowe, Washington Globe

Rated R for pervasive language, sexual content, crude humor, drug use, and thematic material