The Polka King *** / *****
Directed by: Maya Forbes.
Written by: Maya Forbes & Wallace Wolodarsky.
Starring: Jack Black (Jan Lewan), Jenny Slate (Marla Lewan), Jason Schwartzman (Mickey Pizzazz), Jacki Weaver (Barb), Vanessa Bayer (Binki Bear), J. B. Smoove (Ron Edwards), Robert Capron (David Lewan).
The story The Polka King tells won’t be surprising to anyone who has seen as many episodes of American Greed as I have (whether they did one on this story or not, I don’t know – but its right up their ally). A seemingly nice guy starts taking donations from elderly people he knows, promising high interest returns on their money. Then, of course, he has to start taking in more and more money from more and more investors in order to keep the scheme going. It’s a classic Ponzi scheme, and those all come crashing down eventually, because they must. A few things make the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Jan Lewan different – first, he was a Polish immigrant, second he seems like a legitimately nice guy, third he didn’t spend money on a lavish lifestyle for himself, and fourth, he was a well-known figure in Pennsylvania because of his Polka music. He really wanted the American dream – he just couldn’t get it the legal way. The movie detailing his story is more than a little bit of a tonal free-for-all, and seems to be lacking in some very basic details about what Lewan did, and how (the biggest may well how he really did get his tour group to meet the Pope). It is buoyed by a number of energetic performances however, that keep the film from ever getting boring. Front and center is Jack Black as Jan Lewan himself – a big goofy smile plastered on his face, as he fronts his Polka band, and basically while he does everything else in his life. He is a devoted husband to Marla (Jenny Slate), who loves him, and has delusions of grandeur to match him, and father to their son David. Everyone it seems like Jan, except his mother-in-law Barb (Jacki Weaver) – going even more over-the-top than anyone else in the film (which is saying something) – who doesn’t trust him for a minute. Even the government agent who shuts down Lewan’s initial scheme (JB Smoove), likes the guy – and basically forgets about for years, after Jan convinces him he shut down his illegal investing business. Jan has that effect on people – you really be a criminal.
The film is directed by Maya Forbes, who struggles a little bit with the tone of the film, which is more often than not as big and broad as Black’s Jan Lewan himself. Mostly, that works, but the film takes some darker twists as it moves along – as it must – and Forbes struggles to find the right notes there. The last act of the movie is a mess in many ways – not least because it doesn’t feel like anyone is all that concerned with the details of what Lewan did.
Still, the film is mostly an interesting watch for the performances alone. Black is capable of doing this type of character in his sleep – Lewan fits in nicely alongside a performance like the one he gave in Richard Linklater’s Bernie (his career best work) – but he goes all in, as does Slate, especially as she tries to become a beauty queen, and Weaver. Jason Schwartzman is a nice counterbalancing performance – everyone else goes big, so he goes small – even as he explains how he wants to change his name to Mickey Pizzazz.
