A Foreign Affair

A Foreign Affair will open on May 7, 2004 in Los Angeles, Phoenix (where the A Foreign Affair romance tour company is located) and Grand Rapids, Michigan, home of Calvin College, where screenwriter Geert Heetebrij went to school. I'd highly recommend seeing the film that weekend if you live anywhere near one of these cities. The film was made on a shoestring budget and so it depends not on special effects, car chases and elaborate scenes, but simply on good acting, a compelling storyline and beautiful cinematography. The premise of the film is simple: two brothers live with their mother and when she dies they're left alone with no abilities to fend for themselves. They head to Russia on a romance tour to find a "wife." They want someone to cook and clean for them for the two years it would take their "bride" to get her green card. Along the way both brothers discover things about themselves and each other, with unexpected results. A Foreign Affair is a quirky, funny, sometimes sweet and always thoughtful piece of filmmaking. It was produced as an independent film, outside of the Hollywood process, and it shows. Well done.

My wife, Ekaterina, and I met each other in Saint Petersburg, Russia on a tour sponsored by A Foreign Affair, the company that was involved in making this film. The film depicts with accuracy many of the experiences that we went through when we met. I am excited that the film was produced, because it will help people understand what awesome opportunities tours like these offer to people to meet each other. The film is an intelligent, romantic comedy that equals "A Greek Wedding" and "Monsoon Wedding" in portraying family values and relationships. Arquette, Blake Nelson, and Mortimer do wonderful jobs portraying their characters. The film also shows that Saint Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. I highly recommend it and sincerely hope that it becomes successful and popular.

When their mother dies, Jake and Josh Adams are left alone to run their farm. They seem capable enough doing the outdoor work and selling their produce, but when they try to do their own cooking, for example, they make a real mess of it. Josh, especially, seems incapable of taking care of himself. They can't find a maid to do the work.

Jake goes to the library to learn how to find a wife. While he was there, I thought he had found a possible candidate. I won't say whether I was right. But he discovers a web site which leads him to a tour for men interested in Russian brides. The librarian sees the name of the web site, and her reaction is funny, because it COULD be porn.

The amazing thing is that in the one scene where a maid turns the boys down, it is because she won't be paid enough. Now I can understand this since it is hard to make money farming. Yet this tour is very expensive; a maid might have been cheaper. Especially when one considers how much work should probably be getting done while they're gone--I'm sure the guy they hired to sell produce didn't do it for free.

Jake takes care to watch how much money is being spent and whether he is getting a good value, and he does everything according to a system. Yet he is not particularly nice, charming or good-looking. Josh is good-looking, popular and fun-loving but not too bright, though women would want to take care of him. These guys are sort of like the Harper brothers of TV's "Two and a Half Men" in reverse--but on that show the take-charge guy is the one who shouldn't be in charge. And, unfortunately for this movie, the prudent arrangement is not necessarily the entertaining one. I think a lot of people will enjoy the movie, though. It's not the laugh-out-loud style I was hoping for, but both male leads give very good performances, and there are some funny situations. My problem with Tim Blake Nelson is that his uptight attitude makes him hard to like. Uptight can be entertaining, as Jon Cryer proves, but it requires a different sort of taste to enjoy Nelson. Though Jake's agonizing over every little detail is still funny. And David Arquette is capable of playing what could be a hick without making him a hick.

One of the best things about the movie is what appears to be a series of interviews for a documentary (especially the parts appearing with the closing credits). Someone in the movie is, in fact, filming a documentary. And that someone is a woman who may be a candidate for the boys' bride. Yes, I said the BOYS' bride. This arrangement actually seems perverted to the father of one of the other candidates, which makes for another funny moment. Emily Mortimer has some impressive scenes in her role as the documentary producer. The reason she is in a lot of scenes is that Jake needs a translator, even though he is reluctant to appear in the film.

One artistic touch is the fish feeder. Josh needs someone to feed his fish while he is gone, and time is measured by each feeding by an automatic fish feeder, which turns sort of like a clock whose hands advance rather than moving continuously.

It was an okay movie. For some, it would be quite a good one.

I was able to see this movie at the Sundance Film Festival. It was absolutely hilarious, and had some touching parts too. David Arquette and Tim Blake Nelson play brothers who venture off to St. Petersburg on a romance cruise to meet a Russian wife to take care of them. David Arquette was perfect for his role and the chemistry between Nelson and Emily Mortimer was excellent. I also enjoyed the musical score of this film.

I had a chance to see "A Foreign Affair" on April 15 at a pre-release screening with over 500 other film-goers and was mightily impressed by this movie! It strikes me as containing the same kind of graceful humor and insight as "Big Fish," "The Station Agent" and even "My Big, Fat Greek Wedding." The film makes important points about family, love and marriage without shouting and resorting to cheap theatrics. I hope people get behind the movie as they did for "Greek Wedding" so that this quiet little gem doesn't get buried under all of the bombastic comic book pictures. The script is delightful and well conveyed on the screen. Actors Nelson, Arquette and Mortimer are perfect in their roles. The interspersing of documentary-style interviews about marriage throughout the movie was a treat, as were the surprising touches at the end of the film --- again, humorous and touching at the same time. General consensus of the 500 folks at the screening: Outstanding!