The Extra Man
The Extra Man is a novel by Jonathan Ames and a movie directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. It tells the story of Louis Ives, who left a teaching position in New Jersey under a cloud and came to New York to find himself. He gets a room in the apartment of an eccentric failed playwright named Henry Harrison, the titular "extra man", who spends his free time escorting (read: mooching off) wealthy widows at tony social events.
The book is set at the end of The Eighties; the film, released in 2010, is set in a vague contemporary New York with 1980s aspects.
Tropes used in The Extra Man include:
- Author Avatar: Louis Ives
- Bondage Is Bad: Henry thinks so, at least. It's why he kicked his last roommate out of the apartment
- Born in the Wrong Decade: Henry belongs in the 1920s or so, and Louis somewhat does too.
- Catch Phrase: "Well, here we are. Where are we?"
- Cloudcuckoolander: Henry; everyone, kinda
- Creator Cameo: Author Jonathan Ames is a patron at Sally's in the film of his book.
- Granola Girl: Mary, in the movie
- Insistent Terminology: Henry is not a gigolo
- Large Ham: Kevin Kline climbs the heights occasionally in the film.
- Larynx Dissonance: John C. Reilly's high-pitched Gershon. Except when he sings.
- Meaningful Name: Henry and Louis display courtly manners and are involved in palace intrigue.
- Painting the Fourth Wall: As the camera irises in on Louis on the brownstone stoop, he stumbles as if hit by the edge.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Louis is a heterosexual one, for certain values of "wholesome".
- Wild Hair (and beard): Gershon