A colleague of Lynn Shelton’s in the mumblecore genre, Joe Swanberg has become perhaps the most prominent face to represent this low-budget scene of filmmaking. It’s fitting because let’s be honest, his face is a little weird, but after you get used to it, it’s fairly likeable. I probably didn’t even think that way until seeing this movie, which is his most well-received effort yet. It helps that he has the likes of Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick for us to enjoy, as well as solid performances by Jake Johnson and Ron Livingston.
With due respect to Jake Johnson’s beard—which is the most epic beard you will see in movies this year, that’s a guarantee—the star of this story is its lead in Olivia Wilde, who demonstrates just how natural yet subtly devastating she can be as someone ambiguously romantically interested in the Jake Johnson character, and yet fully guarded and ironically detached like most educated, late 20s-early 30s types are in this day and age.
The movie’s deceptively a simple hangout movie, where we derive pleasure from characters that are fun and just drink beer and chill, but I found it to accomplish something rather deep and true while maintaining this casual front. Its story seems to be going down a romantic comedy path, but the actual path it follows is a pleasantly surprising departure from the usual generic tropes. The advantage of seeing this one in video on demand is that you can pause it any time you want to admire Jake Johnson’s wondrous facial shrubbery—I am not kidding; it is a work of art.
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Published: Sep 6, 2013 05:23 pm