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93 MINUTES | KENDALL SQUARE Midlife neuroses preoccupy filmmakers — just ask Sam Mendes (American Beauty), Alexander Payne (Sideways), or Woody Allen. Ubiquitous character actor Peter Riegert gets wrapped up in his own growing pains in his serviceable directorial debut, a dramedy based on Gerald Shapiro’s Bad Jews and Other Stories. Riegert stars as Leo Spivak, a bored ad exec who spends his days pitching telephones that make old ladies sound like Gregory Peck. Leo is under siege — a young colleague usurps him at work, dad is dying, and his marriage is crumbling. Less a story than a string of episodes punctuated by vague morals, King of the Corner is carried by Riegert’s deadpan — and undermined by his direction. Shapiro and Riegert deliver smart jokes, but the unmotivated dramatic moments give you no reason to care.
BY MATTIAS FREY
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