The Overnight
Director: Patrick Brice
Writer: Patrick Brice
Actors: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, and Judith Godreche
Uprooting the family and moving to a new city can be stressful for everyone involved. Some can embrace the change, and others can feel insecure and look to making their lives as normal as possible. Alex (Scott) and Emily (Orange is the New Black's Schilling) just moved to L.A. with their child, and Alex is feeling lonely and is looking to making some friends.
Enter Kurt (Schwartzman), a local who takes interest in Alex and Emily and invites them and their son to his house for a welcome-to-the-neighborhood dinner. There we meet Kurt's French wife, Charlotte (Godreche), and the two seem to have this passionate chemistry that is missing from Alex and Emily's relationship. The night goes on as expected, but once Kurt puts the boys to sleep, with a very strange and almost magical song, and convinces Alex and Emily to hang out for a little while, the evening begins taking a turn for the awkward and weird.
Initially, Kurt and Charlotte seem to be the antithesis of Alex and Emily. Kurt and Charlotte are confident, have lots of money, and have unique hobbies, like perfecting a desalinization via osmosis method for cleansing water. Emily, but especially Alex, seem to be completely charmed by these two. And then when Kurt busts out and offers pot, secrets and temptations begin to surface. As the night goes on, we begin to see the break down of Alex and Emily and their insecurities of their relationship and about themselves. However, the when Kurt and Charlotte's relationship secrets, for lack of a better word, begin to unravel, Emily begins to see that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
The acting of the four leads is solid enough to keep you entertained throughout the whole film. Scott and Schilling are the perfect square-type of couple and provide a great foil for Schwartzman's eccentric behavior and Godreche's sexuality. At first, Schwartzman's over-the-topness was felt a little grating, but as the night goes on, he mellows and the showings of a real and sweet character comes through.
Towards the end of the evening, the film becomes a study on relationships and the struggles couples go through. Sex becomes a major theme of the evening, and there's many points where you wonder if Kurt and Charlotte are really swingers seducing Alex and Emily.
While some of the film works and comments on these struggles, the story ends up feeling messy by the end. The various pieces of the film mostly work, but they never meld together as a cohesive whole. In the end, you're not entirely sure what the film is trying to say about relationships and sex, and maybe it's supposed to be left up to your own opinion or interpretation, but instead, it just feels unsatisfying.
Even with its issues, The Overnight is worth a watch for anyone who enjoys an awkward comedy. The four leads play well off each other, and there are some genuinely funny moments in the film. It doesn't shed any light on troubled relationships or break any comedy grounds, but some out there will enjoy the this film.
Grade: B
Tweet
No comments:
Post a Comment