Cora Bora

I really truly wanted to like this film - I knew nothing about it except that Meg Stalter was in it and I love her.

It bizarrely sets her up as a struggling musician who for the first half of this film I thought we were ironically meant to think that joke was on her cause she is terrible but then ten minutes before the end there is a massive exposition dump which means we're actually meant to think she is a good musician ...? Weird.

Most of the relationships feel under developed and wafer thin - the girlfriend she apparently loves - there is zero anything between them and then we in turn meant to care about her girlfriend's girlfriend ... who is just really really annoying.

There's a cute dog who I think were meant to believe our protagonist cares for but she loses it mid film and couldn't care less ... a plot device that doesn't nothing - goes nowhere and then just resolves itself before the credits role..

Ther is one moment in the film where our protagonist performs a song we've already heard and her new hippie friends join in with piano and it is a really great moment where the music gains life and our main character seems to have found a tribe but she quickly just discards them and ambles on to more nothingness

And then the credits roll

Don't waste your time.

Cora left her girlfriend Justine in Portland Oregon, to go to L. A. to pursue her music career, while calling for an open relationship. (Early on, the has sex with a man she just met.) She decides to go home, and finds that Justine is living with a new girlfriend Riley. Cora's parents show up to celebrate Riley's birthday (the betrayal!). Cora takes their dog for a walk and loses it, and more chaos ensues. This includes going to an out-of-town pansexual orgy with strangers, to try to cheer herself up.

Cora is self-centered and self-obsessed. Her songs reflect that obsession. On the flight, she just plunks herself into a 1st-class seat, asks for a whole bottle of champagne, then refuses to show her ticket. Overall, she is plain unlikeable, and a late reveal of an earlier tragedy is too late for me to give her much sympathy.

This movie is boring at best and cringe-worthy at worst. The only reason I even knew this movie existed was that Chrissie Fit promoted it on her Instagram. I loved Chrissie in the Pitch Perfect film and think she's done some good work in other films (Women is Losers, Teen Beach, All my Life, Pitch Perfect 2&3, etc..). So, I figured I'd give this one a go. Sadly, Chrissie isn't in much. Only like the first 20 minutes, she has a small role as Cora's music producer. Instead, the film follows Cora, a failing singer whose life is spiraling. We're led to believe in the introduction that Cora was a talented singer at one time. However, Cora has fallen on hard times, affecting her music. So, she leaves L. A. and returns to Portland to find her girlfriend, who she was previously in an open relationship with, has moved on without her. So, Cora must figure out where her life goes from here.

This film has a few major problems. It's supposed to be a comedy, but I didn't laugh once. The humor never hit home, and a lot of the jokes were really focused. Additionally, Cora is super unlikable and a selfish jerk throughout. Even when you learn why she is the way she is the way she is, it's hard to relate to her. I kept thinking she was going to change, but she never did. Also, the scenes with Cora and her ex and her ex's new girlfriend are so cringe. Like how socially inept are you not to realize your girlfriend has moved on? And the ex is just as bad for letting the scenes drag on. The real victim is the ex's new girlfriend, who deserved better than having to deal with those two. It's just all too over the top and unrealistic. Plus, they were mean to the dog for no reason. To make matters worse, many of the scenes felt improvised, as if they were done in one take. The actors rush and stumble over their lines. The best moments are when you see Actors who are too good for this movie randomly show up for about 5 minutes. For instance, Tomas Mann is randomly in this movie for about five minutes. Lastly, the ending was so rushed and totally unearned. All in all, it was a hard watch, and I'd say skip this one.