Why the hell is The Martian funny?
An astronaut is stranded on Mars with an uncertain chance of being rescued. Yet Matt Damon is spewing cute one-liners throughout. He had the audience in my theater laughing the whole way through, except for three or four of the most intense scenes. The comedy and cuteness didn't fit for me and it degraded my movie experience.
I feel like good dramatic movies naturally have a some humor in them. But it doesn't have to be cute and isolated from the overall feel of the movie. It can be dark and deep. For example, Tom Hanks is so hopelessly lonely in Cast Away that he makes an imaginary friend out of a volleyball. That is funny, but sad. It is humor that flows from the protagonist's isolation that is central to the story. Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" is funny, but also deranged, fitting for a character steadily losing his mind.
But The Martian's humor feels disconnected. His chummy ragging on his crew mates feels authentic, like it is part of the strong camaraderie among shipmates. But the other shit is just shit and it doesn't belong. Without it, the movie could have been great.
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