Resultados

Netflix's streaming service can be a vast wasteland, but it can also be good for finding off the beaten path films that never would have played at any theater near me and that I might not wanted to have spent $10 on if they did. I've discovered a few real gems this way, as well as waded through some muck. "Results" is not a gem, but it has quite a bit to recommend it.

I get tired of overly-scripted, overly-serious, over-produced studio films about BIG and IMPORTANT themes, so it's nice to come across films with laid back, indie vibes, about "regular" people dealing with the daily act of living, and that's what "Results" is. Kevin Corrigan is Danny, a depressed schlub who hires Kat, a personal trainer (Cobie Smulders) who works at a gym run by Trevor (Guy Pearce), with whom she previously had a fling. Things get uncomfortable when Danny and Kat's professional relationship crosses the boundary into the too personal, forcing Kat and Trevor to face some emotions that both have been trying to ignore.

This might all sound overly scripted, but it doesn't feel that way as it plays out. It feels loose and even rambling at times, and indeed one of my biggest complaints about the film is that it can't seem to decide who its main character is. But what I did like about the screenplay was its ability to upend our suppositions about these characters and the kind of people they represent. At first, our sympathies lie with Kat and Trevor at the sake of Danny. They're attractive, fit, ambitious, everything we're told people who are in charge of their lives should be. Danny is weird, kind of creepy, ugly, dumpy. But as the film evolves, Kat and Trevor find that they have as much if not more to learn from Danny than he has from them, and that a life driven by striving for striving's sake isn't the path to inner peace and contentment, no matter how many power smoothies you drink or articles of Under Armour clothing you wear.

Guy Pearce is one of my favorite actors, and he's really good in this film, doing a lot with material that another actor might not have been able to sell as well. Corrigan is the other standout, giving a minor miracle of a comedic performance, slowly winning the audience over until he almost makes us believe that being out of shape and stoned is what we should all aspire to. Smulders is the one who left me cold. She never makes Kat likable and very frequently makes her annoying. The best scenes in the film are those between Pearce and Corrigan, where Mulders isn't present at all.

Giovanni Ribisi appears here and there in a pointless role as a pothead attorney.

Grade: B+

Pearce is phenomenal, as always, If it wasn't for him there was nothing to review. It is not the lack of talent but a dwindling obvious storyline. Smulders character is rather irritating. Her confrontational whimsical personality does not at all gel on screen with Pearce. Smulders plays her part without any subtlety in a storyline that relies on small developments. I get that this is the whole plot line, contradicting personalities etc, but it moves along choppy and forcefully in an effort to match Smulders and Pearce together.The part with the client could have been more useful but it became rather redundant.

Action stars Cobie Smulders and Guy Pearce get a chance to stretch as "musclebound rageaholics" (fitness coaches Kat and Trevor) in this rambling but clever comedy. The film's real hero, however, is Danny (Kevin Corrigan), a rich, schlumpfy client who likes to spread his money around in a helpful way—reminded me a little of the Weenie King in "The Palm Beach Story."

I can see why "Results" made it onto NY Times critic A.O. Scott's ten-best list*; I can also see why so many online commenters found it annoying and boring… For one thing, writer/director Andrew Bujalski lets his mumblecore roots show by intercutting long, talky scenes with odd bits of indie filler (Kat does isometrics, Trevor plays with his dog) that don't do much to advance the plot.

After a very good start—while it still seems like Danny's going to be the main character—the pacing starts to lag with a couple of subtle plot maneuvers that are well thought out but not all that involving. Luckily Kat pulls it all together in a great screwball-comedy set piece, an everything-on-the-table business dinner with Russian "kettlebell guru" Anthony Michael Hall. Truth be told, Pearce and Smulders don't have a whole lot of chemistry, so they do just fine as conflicted exes; it's not all that satisfying when they finally get together. Fans of "Punch-Drunk Love" may enjoy this one too; others not attuned to the indie sensibility should exercise caution.

* More recently, a couple of Times critics put Corrigan and Pearce (both for best supporting) and Bujalski's screenplay on their lists of perfect-world Oscar noms.

Not really sure what this was. It had some chuckle moments, but nothing terribly funny. The plot jumped around quite a bit, and lacked any cohesiveness. Not sure what the role of Anthony Michael Hall was for. Seemed like it was just added to give him some work. The main male character had a good heart, while the main female lead was mostly a jerk that wasn't very likeable (and also didn't particularly look like a personal trainer). Ultimately, it was quite boring, and I fast-forwarded through the last 10 minutes or so just to see how it ended. Turns out I didn't really care.

Wesley Morris (man, I miss reading his reviews on Grantland every week) called this movie "sneak attack romance." It is also sneak attack comedy and character development. But the story never feels forced. Maybe that's the nuanced performances or maybe it's the little moments that make the whole thing feel genuine. I did not know these movies were still getting made, honestly. I'm glad they are. They make you laugh without punchlines, and that should not be so rare.