From left, Michaela Watkins, Jillian Bell, Jon Bass, and Marc Maron in Sword of Trust (IFC Films)

Sword of Trust is a slight and slightly funny comedy anchored by a great performance by Marc Maron. He plays Mel, a pawnshop broker transplanted from New Mexico to Alabama. When a lesbian couple comes into his business trying to sell a sword, they claim it is the evidence that the South actually won the Civil War. For further proof, they have a three-page letter from a grandfather, a certificate of authenticity, and a painting of a Union soldier surrendering to the South. Mel, of course, scoffs at the idea, and the women leave rejected.

However, his assistant, Nathaniel (Jon Bass), a collector and occasional believer in conspiracy theories, goes online and discovers a whole subculture that believes the South actually won the war, with adherents looking for artifacts to prove it. Mel, smelling a sucker and some cold hard cash, calls the women back, and together they try to unload the sword but get themselves into a potential heap of trouble.

The clever plot takes on some issues of value in our current environment: the gullibility of ordinary people to believe extraordinary fabrications, the snobbery of the people who know better and are willing to take advantage of the gullible, and the time-tested “what people will do for money” trope.

Yet director Lynn Shelton isn’t really interested in that. In fact, it’s hard to know what exactly her focus is, except for the movie’s setup. Part of it has to do with the general low-key aesthetic of the whole venture. No one breaks a sweat here—not that the performances aren’t good. They are very, very good, but they settle for clever rather than funny. There’s really very little conflict. The only character that has an arc is Mel. The plot has a trajectory, but it ends up a sort of shaggy-dog story. All of this adds up to a shoulder shrug and a “meh.”

Most of the film was apparently improvised, and it’s not the better off for it. Many scenes are placeholders, with a “this is here until we can find our way to the next plot point” feel to them. Even at an hour and a half, the piece could use some judicious editing. Sword of Trust also suffers from the curse of many a contemporary comedy: the cinematography is simply mundane. It gets the job of telling the story but little more than that. It certainly doesn’t deepen the story.

That being said, there are some bits that are very funny, such as Nathaniel talking to Cynthia (Jillian Bell), one of half of the couple, about his belief in the flat earth theory and when Cynthia grabs a gun. She flips from badassery to apologetic and back so quickly you can’t help but laugh.

The entire film hinges on Maron, and he makes it worth seeing. His casting as a weary, smart-alacky pawnshop owner is simultaneously such a stroke of genius and so perfectly obvious that it’s possible that I will be let down in the future if he plays anything but that. Also, Maron seems fluent in improvisation. He’s consistently the funniest actor, and his character consistently moves the scenes forward smoothly. In the moment where the foursome swap “how they got to be who they are” monologues, Mel’s backstory is a master class in how to simply tell a story. It feels real, honest, and fits with the role he’s playing, and Maron acts the crap out of it.

So while Sword of Trust is certainly not a waste of time, it certainly is not a run-, or even a walk-, to-see-it film. Unless you are a fan of Maron.In which case, yes, run.