In a parallel universe, where dreams and memories mesh and blur to confuse and influence their dreamers, Tim (Justin Long) and Kimberly (Emmy Rosum) do their very best to remain happy in a tumultuous relationship.
The keenness of the film to deconstruct the way partners take turns playing therapist is evident in Justin Long’s Dell, a self-obsessed loner. His mother’s dying from cancer and after being diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, Dell has sent his psychologist packing. Too bad really, as Dell needs all the help he can get in grasping basic social etiquette.
He’ll point out how he has no chance of landing a date with an attractive woman, pointing out to Kimberly (and the man she’s seeing!) that he isn’t in her league. Dell carries on, telling Kim that her current beau (with the supermodel good looks!) has achieved his superficial goals because of his attractiveness, and thus has never needed to develop the character that Kim ultimately seeks.
Dell’s prickly, so frightfully sensitive and it’s damn impossible not to think of that kid in high school who thought his way out of romance; always afraid of just going with the flow. Hopefully, should we recollect being that kid, we can wipe our brow in the safe knowledge that we’ve since moved on. Grown up. Become self-aware. Not Dell, oh no. Dell meets Kimberly in a queue to watch a meteor shower. She’s on a date, but he doesn’t care. He asks for her number anyway and after quirky, soul searching conversation, he declares his love to her. And thus begins their topsy-turvy romance.
The greatest merits of this movie are in the technical execution. For example, Sam Esmail’s direction reveals the vision of a true auteur, such an eye for framing. Subjects are filmed from strange angles; whole scenes are dedicated to the highlighting of objects in the room. Dell and Kimberly are often shunted into lower corners of the shot lending an intentional (and effective) amateurish capture of their intimate moments. Scenes take on the energy of paintings, kaleidoscopic gentle reminders that this universe is not our own. Background items twinkle, light bulbs flash into Technicolor, and even the demonstration of a shooting star is granted some elaborate but well placed sparkling C.G.I. Thank you Eric Koretz for the wondrous cinematography. The sound? In a word: fantastic. Great jump scares at two unrelated (seemingly unrelated) junctures. The soundtrack is comprised of eighties synths which erupt out of the speakers, burying dialogue in a way reminiscent of recent horror movie It Follows.
If only I was encouraged to root for the main cast.
Dell and Kimberly occupy the film alone.
Imagine being forced to share a room with a warring boyfriend and girlfriend for ninety minutes. To witness friends whose relationship is on the rocks is different to the ongoing battle in Comet, because you know them outside of their relationship. Your friends have given to charity; they’re good parents; they’ve lent you money; they’ve shouldered your personal let-downs and thus mean more to you than the petty squabbling you weren’t supposed to see. Watching Dell or/and Kim do something, anything, for someone else might endear them sympathy, and the film does little to nothing at all to suggest their irksome bitchiness is in some way important to some grandiose meta idea.
Do I want these two people to be happy? Do I want them to stop playing therapist for the other? Er, well …
Despite the witty dialogue and the committed performances from Long and Rosum, Dell and Kimberly don’t seem to have any regard for the others feelings. Sure, Dell may be out of touch with his emotions – granted – that explains his near autism when society requires a modicum of consideration, but this is a romantic comedy. We need to be onside with our main character (s) or find some merit in the disengagement. Hell, even Scott Pilgrim was more likeable than Dell.
It’s in the film’s final third that both characters gain a little dignity. They’ve matured. The needy, whiney, self-indulgent moments of the previous acts go down easier, but the meal doesn’t quite settle.
Two thirds of this story is the one you wanted to write, star and direct your friends in when you were eighteen, but it’s also the kind of movie you might not show at a dinner party in your thirties, not unless you share it with the pals who made the well-intentioned project with you. The narrative spends too much effort in the highlighting of Dell and Kim’s bad phase; making the comedy hard to explore; confusing the tone and intention of the piece. This is a shame, since this film’s ambition ought to have been rewarded with a more cohesive emotional core.
[Rating:2]
