The Waterhole

In a non-descript small town, "The Waterhole" centers on Miller (Patrick J. Adams) as he frequents a bar with best friend and roommate, Jim (Jade Carter), and bar's owner Murphy (Matt Stasi). Although it's about a group of friends hanging out in a bar discussing life and navigating love and relationships, it's better written than that, making it better than most of its contemporaries.

The dialogue is hilarious taking us from the funniest, most daring and insensitive break-up scene ever, through a refreshingly original marriage comparison, and to a highly comical, but not necessarily facetious, examination of rehab, and then back through it all again since the filmmakers had more to say. The characters didn't go as far, they were just angry, drunk twenty-somethings hanging out in a bar. But Patrick J. Adams plays drunk and angry just as well as he plays cute and handsome.

There were a number of trite and hackneyed moments, but that's going to be the case with most "college graduates trying to find themselves" films. But for a dialogue-driven film, the writing was great, especially for a first-time screenwriter. Nathan Cole is headed towards a career deserving of comparisons to Edward Burns, and I'm looking forward to seeing it develop.

"The Waterhole" is a great place to hang out for an hour and a half. Laugh at the asinine things the guys get themselves into, laugh at the surprisingly insightful humour in the dialogue, and still enjoy yourself as it goes through the more dramatic, commonplace junctures.