An action movie tech dweeb steps into his hero’s shoes in Snarky Sidekick

Is “affectionately mocking the cliches and unwritten assumption of an established genre by taking them super seriously” the freshest premise you’ll see all year? Probably not. But the performers are game, and the world they build together has a comic specificity to it that overcomes most hints of staleness, especially when the script drills into the day-to-day minutiae of heroic support. (Simon’s technically minded refusal to use Tom’s equipment because he built the stuff and knows how unreliable it can be comes to mind as a fun example.) In short, the writing works, and Starr has a talent for digging into Simon’s emotional insecurities about leaving the comfortable shade of Tom’s shadow, even as the script deals out a litany of action adventure cliches at a pleasantly steady pace.