Listen Up Philip

Philip is mainly interested in one thing – himself. The young writer and model misanthrope is publishing his second novel and decides to meet up with old friends to prove his superiority. Philip’s girlfriend is also not spared the stinging arrows of slight fired by the quick-witted narcissist whose outsize ego suffers from claustrophobia in her New York flat. When an older writer invites him over for a longer stay, Philip quickly packs up. Director Alex Ross Perry, who seems to read a lot of Philip Roth, offers a brazen portrait of a self-absorbed literary community. The writer in the film – annoying to all around him, though fascinating to viewers – could easily find a seat next to neurotic intellectuals purveyed by Woody Allen. A camera that is shaky like the characters themselves follows Philip’s emotional tussles, while a narrator precisely describes it. This is also an unexpected romantic comedy that focuses on the trials of those for whom the main objects of their emotional highs are themselves.