Jeff Garlin, best known for his role as
Larry David's manager on
Curb Your Enthusiasm, has directed standup comedy specials for
Jon Stewart and
Denis Leary, and makes his feature-film debut with his own adaptation of his one-man stage show, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. Garlin stars as James, an overweight, depressed actor who does improv at Second City. James lives with his mother (Mina Kolb) and constantly cheats on his diet. His life seems to be in a downward spiral. He quits his acting job on a sleazy prank show, his girlfriend (Rebecca Sage Allen) breaks up with him, and his agent (
Richard Kind) dumps him. When he visits his friend's daughter's elementary school for Career Day, he embarrasses himself in front of the attractive teacher (
Bonnie Hunt) by rambling inappropriately about his personal problems in front of the kids. He hears about a Chicago-based remake of
Paddy Chayefsky's
Marty, one of his favorite movies, and the role he seemingly was born to play, but he can't even get an audition. One day, after giving up on Compulsive Eaters Anonymous, he seeks solace in an ice cream parlor, where he meets Beth (
Sarah Silverman), who quickly wins his heart by offering him free ice cream, and asking him a sexually provocative question. But his attraction to the sexually aggressive and somewhat demented Beth may bring James more problems than it solves. The film, which features appearances by
Amy Sedaris,
Dan Castellaneta,
Wallace Langham, Roger Bart,
Paul Mazursky, David Pasquesi, and Joey Slotnick, had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide