Patton Oswalt's latest Netflix stand-up special, We All Scream, is comfortable and well-performed but not as funny as you might expect. Read our review.
Patton Oswalt has always seemed like a smart, well-meaning, empathetic guy, but I still got nervous when he first uttered the word “woke” about three quarters of the way through his new Netflix special.
It’s obvious that Oswalt is trying to address one of the major cultural issues of the day—one that’s especially germane to his career of stand-up—in a way that won’t insult or criticize anybody. That just makes it all so toothless, misguided, and unnecessary.
The highlight of the special is a long story about how protective Oswalt’s wife gets when they spot a stranger in their backyard. Oswalt keeps piling on notes and details about her increasingly agitated and defensive state, crafting a funny and relatable sketch in the process. He goes for a similar slice-of-life approach with several minutes of Covid material early in the show, and those don’t work quite as well.