He’s long since left behind his Oscar-nominated role as Mark Zuckerberg in 2010’s The Social Network, although Jesse Eisenberg does often play slightly neurotic characters who seem out of touch with reality.

That’s led to some comparing him to Woody Allen, and that’s not really an association you want people to be making.

In his latest role in The Art of Self-Defense, a dark comedy that has received a number of favourable reviews, Eisenberg plays Casey, a lonely office drone who speaks with a meek, hushed timbre.

Via The A.V. Club, here’s more:

The alienation he feels at home (where he talks mostly to his little dog) and at work (where he’s unable to make casual conversation with his alpha-complainer coworkers) is physicalized when a random attack leaves him hospitalized, and even more fearful of the world around him.

During his resulting medical leave, Casey decides to combat his fear, enrolling in karate classes at a modest-looking local dojo under the tutelage of a conspicuously unsmiling sensei (Alessandro Nivola)…

Eisenberg is excellent as usual, utilizing his gift for adding range to movies that might have otherwise stayed within a narrow scope. Here, he fits some genuine heartbreak into the movie’s arch architecture, whether scolding his dog or breaking down into frustrated, self-loathing tears when he fails to dominate a bully. In a movie that often observes male dysfunction with some ironic distance, Eisenberg brings the satire closer to the bone.

Decent dark comedies are hard to come by, so this seems promising:

Yup, definitely some promise there.

The movie hits cinemas this weekend.

[source:avclub]