There is no more prized possession in New York City on a sweltering summer day than a working air conditioning unit. Simon Hacker ’s father-daughter comedy “ Notice to Quit ” understands this well, which is why the real estate broker it follows on this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day keeps coming back to the bounteous promises an AC unit can offer. Taking place in all five boroughs of the city, Hacker’s frenzied film mirrors his mentors, the Safdie brothers , but ultimately falters by doing the very thing that AC unit would help ease: It lets us see it sweat.
Andy Singer (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” actor Michael Zegen) is at his wits’ end. His dreams of being an actor have resulted in nothing more than a toothpaste ad campaign that gets him sort of recognized by folks all over the city.
His job as a real estate broker finds him showing increasingly dire prospects to renters who immediately flee his presence. And his side hustle as a purveyor of working appliances from said units to a shady reseller is proving ever harder with those inadmissible apartments his boss keeps saddling him with. Oh, and he’s currently being evicted for being late on his rent — all on the day his estranged 10-year-old daughter decides to show up unannounced to let him know she and her mother are moving to Orlando.
In an on-the-nose touch, Andy has also spilled coffee on his shirt at the very start of his day — a detail that drives the point a little bit too hard, even a.