After the Reality

I am a fan of the two leads of this movie and this seemed like an easy film after I put the kids down to sleep, so a no-brainer....I am so genuinely surprised to be thinking about it days later.It struck a chord with me. It made me really think about real reality and the reality that I am hooked on (embarrassingly). It made me consider parenting and the sibling relationship, it made me think about why we choose our partners and what tools we have available to us in our "emotional" tool belt-sounds heavy but then there are hysterical parts. I really enjoyed it!

I found myself totally engaged in the story and cared about the characters. It has a good balance of humor and engaging drama to propel it forward and make it a totally great viewing experience. I loved the acting; Jane Lynch and John Heard round out a sold cast. I liked Matthew Morrison on Glee, but here he gets to show a wider range of his talents. I also thought the cinematography was great. Being from the Midwest I so enjoyed the landscape and wanted to be on that lake!!

The trailer cherry picks "deliciously pitch-perfect" when that quote applies only to the reenactments of YOUNG BUCKS, the Bachelorette-style reality TV show. Frankly, they were pushing the age of the male suitors. Top billed Matthew Morrison is 38 and his face looks every bit of it.

Less successful is the family drama that isn't very interesting and reeks of "prodigal son" shtick. Morrison isn't very spontaneous and doesn't really create and inhabit characters. He brings his set repertoire to the role and takes on the character's name. That's it.

The script suffers from absence of subtlety. EVERYTHING the characters are thinking comes out of their mouths. The expository dialogue reveals that the writer/director doesn't trust the audience to perceive anything. Thus we end up with emotions by braille.

This would do better on Lifetime TV than the big screen.

This is the second David Anderson film I've seen (check out "Boats Against the Current" with Jason Ritter). Anderson has this sublime way of evoking subtext in his stories that I've come to really treasure. This film has the added delight of presenting reality TV in a way that's not quite parody, but not quite naturalism either. It makes for an interesting contrast for the narrative, which explores the depths of grief. All in all, I found this film evocative, unique and deftly made.

Was so delighted to stumble upon this heartwarming, yet hilarious, independent film from first-time director David Anderson. I was frankly drawn in by names like Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch, but left excited to see more from Anderson, who demonstrates an intriguing ability to defy genre.