Love in the Time of Money

(Question) What do you call 100 film critics buried up to their necks in sand? (Answer) A good start. Well, I don't know Peter Mattei from Adam but if he is the budding auteur his filmography suggests, "Love in the Time of Money" is a "good start". A classy shoot with whimsical music box style music, this flick looks at a chain of tenuous relationships as it moves from person A to person B to person C...etc...and back again ending with persons A & B in carousel fashion. The film gently probes the unhappy circumstances of nine people with finely rendered shadings beginning and ending with a street whore and her client. The downside of this film is the lack of a story which may have something to do with the many critical slams it received. I watched the behemoth "Angels in America" last night and was bored at the end while this little concatenation of character studies kept me spell bound. Use caution. I may be the only person who really liked this flick. (B)

"Love in the Time of Money" is a deeply affecting arthouse picture, more remarkable for the incendiary performances of its cast than for its story. Although the script is quite exceptional--namely for its delectable, believably human, dialogue--the plot revolves around some rather familiar scenarios in contemporary (arthouse) cinema, such as the hardships faced by a fledgling prostitute, the deterioration of an emotionally cold marriage, and the desperation of a troubled corporate drone. It seems almost impossible not to conjure up comparisons to "Leaving Las Vegas," "Happiness," and other bleak narratives of the same ilk. Still, writer/director Peter Mattei draws upon his background in the theatre to create complex characters and elicit staggering performances from his entire cast. The visual style of the film offers additional intrigue--gorgeous close-ups and very non-traditional (yet meaningful and mood-enhancing) framing provide proof that not all features shot on digital video are obliged to be shaky, amateurish messes (or effects-reliant space epics, for that matter). A highly promising debut feature from an exciting new cinematic talent, "Love in the Time of Money" is a low-budget gem that obviously made good use of the time and money put into it, and is certainly worth yours.

As a fan of such films as "Mulholland Drive," "Memento," and "Before the Rain," I have a predilection for films which require one to piece together clues within the plot in order to distinguish true happenings from false. Initially, "Love in the Time of Money," did not strike me as this type of film, however while driving home, the words of Carol Kane's eccentric pig-tailed telephone clairvoyant came back to me. Kane's character was suggesting that perhaps in another dimension everything is changed by something so simple as a traffic light changing color a half-second earlier. This sensibility is the essence of Mattei's film, which follows the stories of interconnected people who unknowingly affect the fate of each succeeding character. The question which the film leaves one with is: How much of this story really happened?

There is a beautiful scene between Carol Kane, as an aged flamboyant clairvoyant who falls for the young urban Adonis, Adrien Grenier. Notable performances are also given by Steve Buscemi, who plays a struggling modern artist with quiet restraint, and by the gorgeous Rosario Dawson, who plays the conflicted muse of two men.

A good indie flick that I stumbled on late night the other day. I love indie flicks set in NYC like most Woody Allen flicks and films like Rodger Dodger, Tadpole, an indie flick with Adrien Brody which I can't recall the name but is an overlooked gem, etc. The ensemble cast is very good and the director connects the stories very well. I liked the stories with contractor and the hooker, Steve Buscemi was good as usual, and the scene with Michael Imperioli at the end with the hooker was very well acted. Also, the banter between Buscemi and the gorgeous Rosario Dawson was well written. I just wish they showed her naked as she looks like she got a nice body. Also, look for a pre Entourage Adrien Brenier who has a decent role. I thought he was very good in the overlooked indie "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" also.

This movie is best watched late at night (if you can stay awake). It is 90 minutes long where the first 85 minutes are an odd and eerie sequence of scenes that seem to transfer from one character to the next in what appear to be chronological order. Then in the last 5 minutes the movie's point unfolds, and you're left with an interesting puzzle that may make you want to see it again: was the movie forward chronological, reverse chronological, disconnected, or an endless paradox that is broken in the "end", which is were the movie began? Makes me wonder if the title is a riddle, too. The first 5 minutes is also important, if you're trying to close the loop.