In fact, I think it’s fair to say that if the very first movie you ever saw was The Greasy Strangler (2016), you’d likely swear off movies forever. But, for a certain number of people out there, Hosking is a guardian of a certain principal that undergirds their enjoyment of the bizarre, the potentially offensive, and even the boring.
It was stated succinctly by The Greasy Strangler producer Elijah Wood. While interviewing him, I brought up the notion of guilty pleasures. He said something that has stuck with me years later: “There are no such things as guilty pleasures, only pleasures.”
You like what you like and shouldn’t use terms like guilty pleasures to mitigate the optics for fear of others judgement. I have sifted through that statement ever since, looking for a way out. But fart jokes, cat videos, and other supposedly low brow media get in the way. I love them. If you don’t, you may want to avoid the oeuvre of Jim Hosking, which trades laughs for long pauses, body fluid, social discomfort, unashamed perversity and loud vulgarity. You have been warned.
Ebony and Ivory (2025) stars Sky Elobar and Gil Gex as otherworldly versions of music legends Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, whose single Ebony and Ivory was composed at McCartney's remote Scottish cottage in 1981 and peaked the charts for seven weeks in 1982. But viewers looking for historical bio-pic-ness beware.
There is no history here. Only dada. You will not see a single note played, a lyric penned or a production console levered. Instead, the film uses Elobar and Gex to construct what I can only describe as human memes, creatures that repeat themselves endlessly in attempting to make the viewer laugh. I laughed a lot.
Hosking's characters aren’t always pleasant to be around, but I have a hard time finding fault with them because they clearly know not what they do. Consequently, there’s a sort of love-me-as-I-am quality to them that feels fun and playful and experimental.
An already angry Stevie (Gil Gex) arrives at the Scottish coast alone in a rowboat as Paul (Sky Elobar) watches from the shore. Paul makes no effort to help as Stevie struggles to carry several large suitcases across the beach to the “Scottish cottage.” The only available foods are Linda’s “ready-made veggie-meals” and libations produced by the Big Willie corporation.
From the very beginning, the two self-proclaimed “musical legends!” are set on a collision course that not even the “doobie-woobie” can ameliorate. Egos soon clash like thunderclouds. Cruel implications fill the air and cries of “shitandfuck!” emanate repeatedly from Stevie. There are even accusations of murder following a failed a nudist foray into the sea. Cocao is requested. Nay! Demanded! As tempers flare like lightning, lunges are lunged and re-lunged. Can a common ground be found before it is too late? Can this collaboration be rescued?
Ebony and Ivory takes the surrealist sensibility of The Greasy Strangler to its limit. Words and phrases are endlessly repeated. Lines of dialogue thrown back-and-forth, word-for-word. It will be mind-numbing for many.
Others will memorize these moments and look for members of their tribe post-screening so they can recreate the scenes.“Doobie-woobie” will be shouted. Plans will be made to convene at some future date with fellow “geniuses” at some remote “Scottish cottage.” Elobar and Gex play the characters straight, never winking at the audiences, not even when they are outfitted with outlandishly large penises for their beach scene.
Is Hosking asking his audience how much they can take? Though there’s far less reliance on gross body humor here, Ebony and Ivory is almost as uncomfortable to watch as The Greasy Strangler. The mind keeps trying to connect, keeps waiting for characters to act logically. Veritably yearns for a return to normalcy.
It’s a testament to his vision that Hosking knows that by the time sheep begin to make an appearance in the film the audience will be too curious about how it all ends to simply walk out. My advice is to see this in a packed theater or with a large group of friends. If you do see it at home, make sure you have lots of off-brand soda and cocoa on hand. You may even need a bit of the ole doobie-woobie.
