Film

The Baltimorons
Director: Jay Duplass
Duplass Brothers Productions
In Theaters: 9.12.2025

I’m the kind of guy who starts getting the Christmas decorations primed and ready in late October, but even I must admit that September is jumping the gun to start ringing in the holiday movie season. However, for that reason, it’s a good thing that The Baltimorons isn’t necessarily selling itself as a holiday film, and it’s more a festival film than a festive one. Nevertheless, this indie comedy romance has the makings of a minor new Christmas classic.

On Christmas Eve, Cliff Cashin (Michael Strassner, Young Rock), a once-suicidal recovering alcoholic and former improv comic, is headed to dinner with the family of his fiancée, Brittany (Olilvia Luccardi, Money Monster, Orange is the New Black), when he chips a tooth. In a desperate search for a dentist who is willing to work on Christmas Eve, Cliff finds Dr. Didi Daw (Liz Larsen, Madoff, Mr. Robot), a brassy, no-nonsense woman in her early 60s whose own holiday has been upended by her ex-husband’s remarriage. What should have been a quick fix unravels into a night of comic misadventures: a towed car, a run-in with Cliff’s old comedy circle and an uncomfortable detour to Didi’s family gathering. Along the way, Cliff’s quick wit and raw honesty clash with, and eventually soften, Didi’s guarded exterior. As the two navigate Baltimore’s chaos together, these two lonely misfits find themselves finding an unexpected and welcome gift they didn’t even know they needed: a kindred spirit.

The Baltimorons, which takes its title from an improv sketch that Cliff used to perform back in his heyday, is a quirky two-hander character comedy and May-December romance that plays a bit like a mashup between Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Before Sunset. It’s neither as broadly laugh-out-loud funny as the former or as traditionally romantic as the latter (Strassner and Larsen aren’t exactly Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy circa 1995), but it’s the simplicity and real-world, blue collar reliability of it all that makes it so infectiously charming. The screenplay by Strassner and director Jay Duplass (Jeff, Who Lives At Home) is well-structured, lively and sensitive and it puts the character into situations that make for a memorable whirlwind night without feeling contrived or ridiculous. 

The centerpiece of the evening comes when the emerging duo decide to stop at an improv performance that Cliff’s friend is involved in. When Cliff gets pulled on stage, it’s the first time he has tried to perform improv in front of an audience since the event that caused him to attempt suicide. Now, it’s a longstanding pet peeve of mine that when it comes to movies about standup comedians, the routines we witness are rarely actually funny, and it would be easy enough to make that complaint here, especially if you’ve never done improv before. While we don’t get nearly as strong a sense of whether or not Cliff is particularly funny on stage as we do off, that’s not the point of the scene. It’s about returning to the scene of a traumatic event, and saying, “Yes, and” to life with a scene partner who is willing to stick it out even if they bomb. 

The Baltimorons is an actor’s movie all the way, and it’s the unconventionally captivating presence of the leads that makes it special. Strassner brings a great deal of heart and vulnerability to Cliff, but it’s Larsen who had me repeatedly checking IMDb, certain that I must have heard of her before, because she most certainly had to be a recognized star at some point (she wasn’t). While it’s hard to say whether the vehicle she’s been given will lead to that stardom at this point in her life and career, it gives her one film where she gets to be a leading lady with whom I couldn’t help but fall in love. 

The Baltimorons is a pleasant and likeable little film that provides a refreshing alternative to a lot of the dark and heavy fare that tends to hit theaters in the fall. It’s definitely too early for Christmas, but it’s a nice and hopeful gift nonetheless. —Patrick Gibbs

Read more film reviews by Patrick Gibbs:
Film Review: Spinal Tap II: The End Continues 
Film Review: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale