Spin Me Round

This was disappointing. It felt pretty long / poorly edited, it wasn't snappy, it was rarely funny, it was often awkward, it just feels like the script wasn't good enough, the story isn't good enough, and I'm a fan of the absurd and the two female leads. But this was just weak, aimless, and ultimately frustrating.

Amber (Alison Brie) is a manager of an Italian restaurant chain in Bakersfield, California. It's an Olive Garden type situation. Amber wins a corporate retreat trip to Italy. Once she arrives, suspicious situations arise. She is invited by the beloved company owner Nick Martucci (Alessandro Nivola) on a personal trip. She is befriended by his assistant Kat (Aubrey Plaza).

Everybody is capable of doing a bit of quirky and that's what happens. It's mildly funny in its quirkiness. Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza are great. I also love Zach Woods. These are great comedic performers. This has great potential, but the mystery needs some work. It needs some tension. The mystery needs to start sooner and be more involved. The writing needs work.

You know those movies that start out strong and build up a compelling plot, only to lose themselves in the final quarter and go down a convoluted road? This is one of those movies.

The first 2/3 is actually really interesting. It's sort of similar to "don't worry darling"- a seemingly normal universe that gets more and more absurd as time goes on. It's a comedy, mystery, thriller, and romance all wrapped into one.

And then- it's ruined by a rather flat ending. It feels like someone just didn't write an ending. I think this had the potential to be really great, but squandered it. Ultimately, only watch this if you're okay with a good journey but bad destination.

I liked the concept of the movie, but the tone was all over the place. I don't think the filmmaker knew what kind of movie they wanted to make, which in the end turned into a comedy but has all of these confusing twists and turns in between.

I thought Alessandro Nivola was perfectly cast as Nick, but then he goes to a party and introduces Amber to Ricky, played by...Fred Armisen, whose presence immediately made the movie feel like a TV Show.

I did enjoy the ending. I'm usually not much for interpretive endings, but for once I feel like I understood it. The movie was very messy up to that point, but I don't think I would have had the context to understand the ending without that messiness?

I don't know how I feel about this movie. I really don't.

.. who is both the co-writer and the star (!), has at least one great film in her. But this is definitely not it. This script is however remarkable for setting up so many interesting possibilities and then delivering on none of them. The end result is maybe a 10 min SNL skit, not a full length film. And it was particularly unwise to cast Plaza in a secondary role, because her natural charisma immediately has the viewer wondering why she is not starring?