XX/XY

Austin Chick has done wonders with "XX/XY". It's almost as though he is working in solving a mathematical equation. In the process, he makes us follow the three principals, Coles, Maya and Thea throughout almost ten years to see what become of the characters. Mr. Chick is a film maker in tune with young people, their language, their interplay, and their sexual discoveries.

In securing the services of Mark Ruffalo for the pivotal role of Coles, the director is blessed as well with wonderful performances all around. Mr. Ruffalo has become one of the best actors working in the American cinema. He always bring such an intensity to everything he does, but in a subtle and quiet way. We always know what's going on with this man because he expresses everything with gestures that are always right. There's never a moment wrong in Mr. Ruffalo's portrayal of Coles.

The story begins in 1993 as the original friends, Coles, Thea and Maya explore their sexual awakenings in unorthodox ways. Coles is the man who lusts after both room mates, but it's obvious that Maya is the one that gets the best of him until their separation.

As the story turns to the present time. We see Coles in a relationship with Claire, the 'together' young woman who seems secure enough with Coles never to pressure him into a marriage, because she feels he is committed to staying with her. Their life together suddenly takes a spin with the reemergence of Maya, who has been away in London all these years. Her presence unravels Coles to the point of betrayal to Claire. It is Claire who gets the last laugh as she confronts Coles to tell him how ahead of the game she really is.

The last scene is enigmatic. We watch Coles and Claire standing by the door. Coles is trying to hold it open, but Claire succeeds in closing it, and as a chapter in their relationship has ended.

The two principals, Maya Strange, as Sam, and Kathleen Robertson, as Thea, are excellent as the college girls that love to have fun. However, one has a feeling that it's Petra Wright, who plays Claire, that gives the strongest performance. Ms. Wright has a luminous aura about her; she overshadows the others. One realizes that Coles needs her and she loves him.

Bravo to Austin Chick for a job well done.

I'm not sure why, but while I was at Hollywood Video, I ran across XX/XY and decided to give it a shot. What did I have to loose? It was free! :D I'm in a special club. Anywho, XX/XY takes on at first this gritty type of independent film with a couple of actors I knew. Mark Ruffalo who I just recently saw in In the Cut and Kathleen Robertson who I have seen in Scary Movie 2.

The film is about Mark who plays Coles, a wanna be director who meets Sam, a simple girl who lives with her roommate, Thea, played by Robertson. Coles, Sam, and sometimes Thea hook up, but it is Sam and Coles that truly fall for each other. But when Coles goes too far with Thea, Sam breaks it off with him. They meet again ten years later coincidentally and despite Coles being in a serious relationship, questions if he still has feelings for Sam.

It's an interesting movie, but I did like it's true honest drama and human emotions. Although I felt like I could easily see these situations on a talk show, it still wasn't a bad movie to watch.

6/10

Perhaps the most damning thing you can say about a movie is that it stirs no feelings in you. If you absolutely hate a movie, well at least you feel something. XX/XY denies you even that. There's nothing worth hating. But there's certainly nothing to love either. There's just nothing, an emptiness. The story doesn't engage, the characters inspire no reaction. It's very bland, rather monotonous and sorely lacking in entertainment value.

XX/XY is the story of a young man, Coles, played by Mark Ruffalo with a silly mustache. Coles meets young college student Sam. That would be a girl Sam by the way, played by Maya Strange. And Sam has a wild child roommate, Thea, played by Kathleen Robertson. Right after the trio meet they make their way to the bedroom for an exceedingly awkward threesome. They end up in a weird sort of friendship with Coles and Sam a couple and Thea floating around off to the side. And then Coles, who is at heart a jerk, does some jerky things and the whole thing implodes.

It is now years later. You can tell it's years later because Coles no longer has a mustache. Now he's in a long-term relationship with a woman named Claire. They're not married but they may as well be, that's the type of relationship they have. And then out of the clear blue sky Sam shows up and you can guess what happens from there. Jerky Coles decides he's wanted Sam all along. Wild child Thea re-enters the picture too, although she's not wild anymore, actually settled down and showing some signs of maturity. Maturity is clearly not something Coles possesses. He acts like a spoiled child and screws things up all over again. Sam's not much better. Poor Claire is there to serve as the aggrieved party, someone for you to feel sorry for. But again this movie really fails to make you feel anything. The key characters are unsympathetic, but not so much so that you can muster up any hate for them. The movie just sits there, nothing grabs you. It's all very predictable, it's not all very entertaining. The best thing you can say about the movie is that the performances are pretty good. It's a fine cast, they just have no material to work with. The focus is on the trio from the first part of the film but if there's any truly memorable moment in the whole film it belongs to Claire. She has a moment where she states the truth about all that has gone on, bluntly and honestly, something nobody else is willing to do. It's a strong moment for the character and for actress Petra Wright. But the movie can't even let us have that moment. It cheapens it, essentially nullifies it, later on by having Claire do something she quite simply should not do. In a smarter, better movie she would do no such thing. Here it's the final unsatisfying piece in an unsatisfying film.

XX/XY feels undone.

Take the male adolescent fantasy of bedding two females and hopefully watching them bed each other, throw in some complications, and see where it takes us, is essentially the crux of this movie.

Unfortunately, despite the excellent camera work and sharp performances by the cast, something is missing in this screenplay in order for us to empathize with these characters. It's as if the writer wanted to give everybody equal screen time, but forgot to flesh out the true love interest--Sam, played nicely by Maya Stange. If Maya were further fleshed out as a character, the audience might actually feel satisfied by the end of this so so movie.

Too bad. There is a diamond in the rough here...but it is buried in shallowness.

Speaking of shallowness, considering the constant state of free love depicted in the movie, nobody seems concerned with STDs or AIDS. What's up with that?

Excellent cast and intensity throughout. All characters and situations relatable to the twenty and thirty-something audience and quite believable. I just thought it moved a bit too slowly and felt long. It takes a drastic leap in time in the last half, and the cast pulls it off. But it does slow down the film a bit. Very sexy film.