My score: 5/10. The time I feared has come: millennials are making movies. This is a hodgepodge of backgrounds as reasons to give Noël Wells a stage for her brand of humor. It's a knock off from Zoe Deschanel but not as funny. This film is now streaming on Netflix.After a loved one falls ill, 25-year-old struggling comedian Emily Martin returns to her college town of Austin, Texas and must come to terms with her past while staying with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend.There is a lot wrong here but let's start with the basics: if you put a talent in the lead role don't rely on her talent alone. There HAS to be a story to showcase what she does. She was in "Master of None" and my wife who saw it tells me she was cute and did well. From what I have seen of the show, which isn't much, there is a story intertwining the episodes together. It also features a comic, Aziz Ansari.Let's look at a perfect example of how to get a comic noticed in a film: "The Big Sick." I will say there is some good writing in this in the way of jokes. I caught myself laughing several times so there's that. But as a whole the plot is not believable having her go live with her ex who she dumped so she can attend her old cat's funeral. That's just not a good premise. Apparently they disagreed because they named the film after the dead cat.I will certainly look for more from Noël Wells and she isn't bad altogether but she has a long way to go to write, direct, and star in a film as she does in this one. Humility my dear. I understand many will praise her for her bravery in taking on all roles. Ok but there is a point where bravery becomes just a reckless bad idea like jumping off a cliff into a waterfall in front of millions ... topless. 5/10.

Noel Wells excels in her directorial debut in Mr. Roosevelt. I was unfamiliar with Wells' work until viewing this film despite her work on SNL. While directing, she also plays the lead role of Emily Martin who left her home and boyfriend to pursue comedy in Los Angeles. Emily is a struggling comedian who must quickly return home as her cat, Mr. Roosevelt, is dying. While in Austin, she stays with her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend. The perfect set up for this comedy. Over the course of the movie, Emily learns much about the life she left behind and her own self. Throughout the film the viewer is dealt with awkward situations followed by Wells' quick witted humor. She has a lot of silly habits that I can relate with that make this movie more enjoyable. If you're into indie films put together by striving and thriving artists, Mr. Roosevelt is worth your viewing.

"Mr. Roosevelt" is fairly typical for an indie comedy, especially one written and directed by its star. Indie movies used to be an alternative to Hollywood in that they would show you characters and situations that were something you wouldn't ordinarily see at the multiplex. Somewhere along the line that difference became a cliche. If you want to see something different, it doesn't help that you already know what that difference is going to be. Where's the surprise? Where's the challenge?"Mr. Roosevelt" being an indie comedy means you can expect a lot of weird, off-hand lines of dialogue like "I forget what funny is", and nudity which, in a Hollywood movie, is usually a device to titillate audiences, but here just seems added to up the weird factor. It's not unusual to see an unconventional lead in an indie flick, but I think Noel Wells doesn't really have star quality. Having written and directed the movie herself, of course she also cast herself in the lead role, but they can't all be Lake Bell (from "In a World") or even Lena Dunham ("Tiny Furniture"). The camera doesn't exactly love her. While watching the movie I found myself forgetting what she looked like occasionally, which is funny since she is in every scene.The movie does have a few funny moments, though not many.The plot concerns a struggling comedian who comes back to her hometown to say fairwell to her cat, the titular Mr. Roosevelt, as her ex-boyfriend and his new squeeze must have the cat put down.The stage is obviously set for a "young person faces their past and confronts their issues" sort of movie, but here's the problem: I never believed that this character had a past, there or anywhere else, and I never believed that she cared about her cat enough to go all that way, or anything else. You can understand she might feel toward her ex's new lover, but the movie doesn't deal with them head-on, making her own feelings and motivations opaque, and making the character more distant than she ought to be.

After reading some of the reviews on imdb I decided to give this movie a try., What a mistake as this is a boring, boring, boring movie.... The story is about a girl who leaves her boyfriend (and cat Mr. Roosevelt) to become an actress or something similar in LA, breaks-up with him and returns when her cat gets very sick. The cat dies, she stays with her ex and his new girlfriend and then she fancies her ex again..... Wow, great! Nothing is of any interest, nothing is funny or sad but it is just all boring. And you see some girls take of their bikini-top but this is also not of any interest at all as they all have nothing there (A-breasts). Boring again....