Slate, Camp, and the rest of the crew find a human heart, relatability, and universality to a shell. They’ve mastered the homey, comfy tone by now, making it so you truly feel with and for Marcel, laugh with him, and cry with him. What could’ve gotten away with just being a- very funny- vehicle for warm jokes instead harnesses real life elements to show the power of community and family, the heartbreak of separation, the joy of creativity, and the importance of the connections around us. The displacement of Marcel’s family harkens to Slate’s Jewish heritage, as does one song he plays, while Camp’s character pulls from the divorce between them. If Marcel was just a funny shell, it’d still be a very charming and funny film. But they put their heart into him, and that heart and lack of cynicism and distance bleed off the screen. It is engaged and committed to Marcel, and so we are too. Slate knows him so well, plays him perfectly so that his voice can pull out a laugh or pull your heartstrings without ever losing consistency or earnestness. That third act got to me.

Even as Camp and Slate go separate ways, Dean and Marcel stay connected. And so, they do too. So do we all. Even-or especially- as change comes, the world moves through us like the wind through Marcel, and that ties us together. All we have to do is go high enough and look.