Nathan for You
2013
Original language: English
- comedy
- documentary
The story
Self-proclaimed business expert, writer, director and comedian Nathan Fielder helps real small businesses turn a profit with marketing tactics that no ordinary consultant would dare to attempt. From driving foot traffic to an off-the-strip souvenir shop by using Hollywood flair and a Johnny Depp impersonator, to creating a rebate that can only be redeemed by climbing a mountain, to founding a coffee shop called "Dumb Starbucks,” Nathan has always gone to the limit to make his ideas come to life. With his unorthodox approach to problem solving, Nathan’s genuine efforts to do good often draw the real people he encounters into an experience far beyond what they signed up for.
What it’s like
Flat daylight and fluorescent-lit storefronts, shot like a corporate training video that has slipped its leash: static wide frames of strip-mall parking lots and cramped small-business interiors, with the camera holding on people as they realize what they've agreed to. Sound is mostly location audio, sparse library-style music, and long silences that let awkwardness sit. The vibe is deadpan and cringe, with a dry, uneasy comedy that mixes earnest pride with mounting discomfort. It suits a lazy weekend afternoon or a late-night watch when you want to laugh at social tension without being shouted at. The pacing is unhurried, and the arcs follow a sincere, overconfident man whose schemes keep spiraling into stranger territory for the ordinary people he drags along. Intensity is mild: no violence or gore, only occasional crude jokes and some sexual references, with humiliation and social discomfort doing most of the work. It is for people who enjoy the squirm of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Office, and who like their comedy observational, dry and a little bit mean-spirited.
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