I can definitely relate to the concept of this film. Jokes On You is the story of a couple living in a London apartment block. This couple really is made for each other. In that they both love pranking the other one. As soon as the opportunity arises a prank is made. The problem is, while these practical jokes are never made with malicious intent, they do have a habit of happening at the wrong time or go a little too far. And after years and years of such pranks and prods, the two are finding their relationship to strain from it.

Jokes On You definitely has an idea that many can get behind. It’s also an easily accessible film, with its themes flying under the fun of the situation. And the short ten minutes is a good runtime to tell this story. And it is a good story, with a pretty satisfying conclusion. The pacing and tone of the film are off-beat, but deliberately so. This could be seen as either a way to make the film more realistic or more dreamlike. And of course, we have the themes, that include the likes of love, acceptance, the struggle of relationships, the search for happiness and, most prominently, the theme of people not knowing when to stop; whether that be with humour or seriousness.

That last part most certainly is something that affects many throughout the world. I have certainly had my moments where I’ve taken a joke too far, and just as many moments where I haven’t taken a joke well. And when it’s constant you do feel the weight of your emotional state. The film is very good at showing that, and how it often is not a long-term feeling. A joke we can all get over, even if at the time it feels hurtful or infuriating.

The quality of the film making also helps this come to light. There is a great use of setting in this film. It feels like any hometown, and any flat, making this couple feel like your everyday couple, with their own issues and worries. The lighting and camerawork were also well used, at times reminding me of the style of Wes Anderson and others of Jean-Pierre Jaunet (with Amelie at least). It’s also well written, with good dialogue that carries all it needs to with the story and characters in the time given to us. Not a single line is wasted and each one builds the film and give us more understanding of the story and situation. The film’s final moment is also a great example of visual storytelling, and is easy to be admired.

Sadly though, I didn’t find myself enjoy Jokes On You all that much. It took me a little bit to work out why, but I can safely say that my issue lays with the films inconsistencies. I can see what the director was trying to do here; we are to be given the illusion of this being the real world and with a real couple, yet it also wants to be this melancholy dream, with cartoonish sounds and outlandish jokes to make it feel more humorous and just a little sad. But the problem is you can’t do both. Because all it means is that the film is too restrained to be dreamlike while also being too silly to be real. It tried to bake its cake and eat it basically. This inconsistency also made its way into the acting it seems too. The lead woman for example, she is mostly pretty good throughout the film, it’s not a great performance but good enough, but in the opening I was actually cringing from her acting.

The opening also demonstrating what I had mentioned earlier. It starts like a horror film, with the joke being that it is just a joke…and not once did I buy it. And that’s simply because it was too over-the-top to be scary, and it wasn’t crazy enough to make me think we were in a campy horror film. So the fact that it was a joke as easy to pick up.

There really isn’t much more I can say about Jokes On You. It didn’t really engage me, and I wasn’t really laughing or feeling much sympathy at all. I like the concept and I do wish that it would be done again, but this was not really the way to use it. It’s not serious enough to win me over dramatically, and it’s not silly enough to be much fun, leaving us with a pretty bland and forgettable film. Beneath the surface there is something waiting to come out, it’s just going to have to wait a little longer.

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