It’s official. Jim Hosking is a one-hit wonder.
And that “hit,” on paper, was a trainwreck.
Yes, that’s “The Greasy Strangler,” a rude, sexually-explicit slice of Napoleon Dynamite twee that wallowed in absurdity and, “I can’t believe they just showed that” shock value.
This critic loathed it before he loved it, and don’t get me started on its wonderfully wacky soundtrack. But Hosking’s follow-up, “An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn,” proved deflating. Then again, what could follow “The Greasy Strangler,” right?
Now, he delivers “Ebony & Ivory,” a film purporting to show how Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder recorded that treacly 1982 hit.
Sort of. Maybe. Not even close.
That union gives Hosking an excuse to crank out even more delirious anti-comedy – awkward silences, repetitive phrases and endless frontal nudity. One phallic prop may require its own trailer.
It puts viewers to the ultimate test. Can you sit through 80-plus minutes of this?
Would anyone even want to?
“Greasy Strangler” alum Sky Elobar stars as the cute ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney. The rocker invites fellow superstar Stevie Wonder (Gil Gex) to a remote Scottish Cottage on The Mull Of Kintyre, presumably to record a tribute to racial healing.
You know the song. Chances are Hosking loathes it, and he’s not alone.
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don’t we?
Not Macca’s finest hour. Except there’s little about their conversation, or the plot, that hinges on that track. Or music. Or anything you’d half expect from such a collaboration.
Instead, we’re treated to naked walks on the beach, endless conversations about breaded vegetarian food and hot chocolate.
If that’s a spoiler alert, so be it.
The film should have cost as much as a trip to Costco. The setting is restricted to Macca’s [rental?] property, and the action rarely leaves this tiny hamlet.
Elobar’s performance in no way attempts to channel Macca. He adds a few “mates” at the end of his sentences and occasionally does that McCartney head shake.
Gex’s Wonder impression is even less authentic. And that’s fine. This isn’t a historical biopic. It’s comical to see two actors not even break a sweat recreating the music icons.
Ha ha. No, really.
That’s where the smiles start and mostly stop.
LIVE Thursday!
Sky Elobar and Gil Gex of Ebony & Ivory return to the podcast to talk their new film from Jim Hosking of The Greasy Strangler!https://t.co/S398YQC7Bu pic.twitter.com/noDCUXP4AJ— Without Your Head Horror Podcast (@WithoutYourHead) August 4, 2025
The curious soundtrack tries to enhance what’s seen on screen but can only do so much. Elobar and Gex are game and fully committed to the approach, but so what? There’s nothing clever, or engaging in the screenplay, just absurdist banter that never elevates beyond its chronic weirdness.
Why was “The Greasy Strangler” oddly intoxicating and “Ebony & Ivory” an endurance test? The former had a semblance of story in addition to wacko visuals and comic flights of fancy. Oh, and that wonk-wonk, bizarro soundtrack.
Intoxicating.
“Ebony & Ivory” feels like someone watched that film and copied its tics. Weird. Shocking. Vulgar. Silly. Cramped. Excessive.
Moronic.
Director Wes Anderson is becoming a parody of his creative self after a dozen films. Hosking reached this dubious level in just three.
A quick note: “Ebony & Ivory” is so distinctly off-putting that it may be revisited as a cult “classic.” Count on it, actually. It still isn’t within shouting distance of “good” in any traditional sense.
HiT or Miss: “Ebony & Ivory” reveals the limits of quirky director Jim Hosking’s brand of comic chaos.