The book, in which celebs like Bob Saget, Jeff Garlin, and Tim Allen all told their own tales of sudden unemployment, later became the basis for a 2007 documentary of the same name.

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This unromantic comedy by Jeff Garlin, who also stars, sometimes resembles a TV pilot for a cult show, yet its deadpan absurdities and sour realities evoke a pain that no amount of humor can dispel.

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If Garlin fills his film with knowing allusions to old pop culture, such as Jackie Gleason, classic movies, and jazz LPs, he does it with a point: his modern world is a thin and lonely place.

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