Permissão

This film tells the story of a couple who decides to open up their relationship on the suggestion of their mutual friend.

"Permission" is a predictable romantic comedy, I could just tell how the film will end after watching the first scene. The process of getting to the end scene is quite pleasant, with a lot of eye candy and nice portrayal of how the new arrangement may or may not be working.

It has good actors that work well together but the plot line is basically that a flat line. It's a little over an hour & half long but feels closer to three hours. It's not romantic and funny nor is it heartbreaking and tragic it falls somewhere in the middle that leads to an anti-climatic climax that leaves a lot unanswered and then cuts to black.

Director/writer Brian Crano has assembled an excellent cast. Permission has adults having adult conversations. We watch as two very different couples grapple with managing their relationships and the hardships that ensue when one person (or both) deviate from "the plan". Crano allows his characters to be smart, stupid, loving, selfish ... that is, real people. Rebecca Hall steals the show and yet her character is perhaps the least likable of them all. After seeing her here, I will watch her in anything. A scene late in the movie is as real as life and as such is tender, wrenching, and beautiful. So, why only 5 stars? All of these great parts do not add up in the end. The middle of the film lags. As great as the acting may be, I didn't believe the ending. Crano works with his actors and creates great moments. The culmination of those moments, while clearly articulated in the film, seemed trite at worst and less than satisfying at best. Normally such an ending would result in less than 5 / 10 from me (starting from a pass/fail scale). Yet, the greatly crafted scenes and great ensemble acting make Permission worth recommending.

Long term, exclusive couple test their relationship by sleeping around! What could go wrong? Plenty of course, but "Permission" is more than a quirky, guilty pleasure premise. Heck it's not even a comedy.

As our adorable love birds take their first baby steps outside of their cage, there is, dread, apprehension, fear, but mostly there is excitement. How Anna and Will deal with their suddenly evolving world is decent fodder for a serious movie, yet it is another couple that steals the show. Anna's baby craving brother and his reluctant boyfriend offer up a better plot line. Sometimes juicy don't cut it.

This really is a tale of two couples, and unravelling the daily intimacy and neurosis of both relationships, with some terrific performances, is where "Permission" works best. It's a messy film with a whole lot goin' on, but manages to entertain while posing some interesting questions.

This is the reason I always get anxious during opening credits from small time productions or indie size studios.

The writer clearly couldn't decide on what creative choices to make early on, was it going to be another take on an open relationship or a gay drama.

Way too ambitious, didn't work. Cliche beats and fairly mundane dialogue.

There was no arc towards making their important relationship decision, it just happened out of nowhere.

The drama was telegraphed all the way after we're introduced to the cliche premise.

The moral tale doesn't have any redeeming qualities other than an open ended decision by the female co protagonist to free herself to continue the self discovery.

The baby scenes in the park magically appear like set pieces. Did he have to stalk the area until the Father and son showed up? This just added to the lack of believability. Are we really meant to believe a girl that has been with one man soon after is shagging strangers within 2mins of meeting them in quick succession?

If this was a college project I'd say it was a good start, but this film made it to subscription TV