Alex of Venice

Alex (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is an environmental attorney, currently absorbed in what is possibly one of the most important cases in her career. When her stay at home husband (Messina) surprises her with the news that he needs some time for himself, she is left alone to deal with their son Dakota, her father (Don Johnson), the arrival of her free spirited sister and above all herself.

Alex Of Venice is Chris Messina's directorial debut. It was a pleasure to discover that someone who has been on the independent film making scene for some time had decided to step behind the camera. It is probably safe to view Alex of Venice as a starting point for Messina, who shows an unwavering dedication to the titular character as well as a strong focus, which allows him to maintain a consistent tone throughout the feature. There is a potentially powerful theme at the core of Alex of Venice. Dealing with the instability and vulnerability brought along by loss is where the director's attention lies. Yet, while Alex's struggle of having to juggle with much more than work related issues is immediately apparent, there appears to be little space for growth or introspection, making her overall journey unremarkable. Nothing seems to suggest that the 20 something year old protagonist might actually find a way to "reinvent" herself and be able to rise up to the challenge of being on her own for the first time. Alex's relationships feel for the most part underdeveloped to the point where it becomes difficult to view her being a mother, a daughter and a sister as significant elements in her identity. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does the best with what she is given, portraying a young woman who is destabilized in more ways than one by her partner's sudden absence. There might be an idea of a missed opportunity after viewing Alex Of Venice. As previously stated, it could be considered a not entirely convincing, yet hopeful starting point for Chris Messina's love affair with characters dealing with the hardships that result from changes that are as traumatic as they are unexpected.

The attempt to portray Alex (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) as a woman in flux, forced by circumstance to "reinvent herself", was lost on this viewer. Instead, little was done to drag her out of the mire of self absorption. She takes everyone around her for granted, and is clueless about what is going on with the people with whom she shares a household, most importantly her son Dakota (Skylar Gaertner) . It was very difficult if not impossible to find any empathy for Alex especially when her husband George (Chris Messina) manages, at a distance, to know more about what's going on with their child than she does. Alex's sister Anya (Julianna Guill) is invited by patriarch Roger (Don Johnson) during George's absence for reasons never revealed, and thankfully so, as Dakota would be a footnote barely visible to the story line, (let alone his mother), without Anya's playful interactions and wise counsel. Rather than building a powerful thesis on family dynamics the film focuses on superficial distractions like getting laid or barhopping as solutions to the very real angst that accompanies dramatic life change. We don't ever know why Alex's work is so important to her, or why she cannot relate in the most basic way to her son, or how she feels about her husband, or why she thinks it's okay to expect that everyone else is responsible for managing the day-to-day tasks of raising a child and managing a career. Supporting cast do a wonderful job of carrying an otherwise lackluster character study to a predictable end. Unfortunately for Winstead, she is faced with trying to unearth profundity from the shallow grave where Alex's character is buried.

Young woman loses her husband and has to take care of her kid by herself. What's new to this story?

The good: acting is good. The story is sweet and gentle. There is a certain effort to make it transcend the simple story of a single mom.

The bad: it's tedious. It's too safe. This story has been told before, with much more spark and punch in other movies.

This should be at least some 20 minutes longer. From beginning I felt whole storytelling as rushed. Husband suddenly announces that he can't do it anymore, and leaves. But we couldn't see almost nothing why, how family was really dysfunctional. And it was so most time. I don't know who to blame more: writers or director. Probably both. It seems that director felt in love with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (MEW in further text), and focused on her all time - there was plenty of scenes with only her on screen. Actually, I can not blame him for that - camera loves her, and she was ideal cast for idealistic, as young dedicated to school, work type young woman. I watched this mostly because of her. Don Johnson was pleasant surprise in atypical role. Unfortunately, there is strong impression that male characters were not just lower time on screen, but presented as lower worthy. Still, it could be pretty good indie movie with better storytelling and more time. Was problem with budget or directors inexperience, I can't tell. Acting from MEW, Don Johnson and Skylar Gaertner was superb. Other did good job too. My rating is 6 - it was watchable, not boring, maybe simply because you can not stop to watch MEW :-)

A young professional woman, whose lived a somewhat sheltered life, is forced to cope with her challenging family situation after her husband walks out. Simple movie without major upheavals but charming characters that are memorable and heart-warming. Easy film to watch.