All About Nina

Greetings again from the darkness. There are dark comedies and then there is the first feature film from director Eva Vives (although she wrote the screenplay for RAISING VICTOR VARGAS). It's really a dark drama with both feet in the stand-up comedy world, so we find ourselves laughing at the (profane) jokes, despite a lead character that is in desperate need of emotional salvation.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is dynamite as Nina Geld. And dynamite is meant to have two definitions here. She is terrific in the role, and she (her character) explodes with little notice. Nina Geld is definitely provocative. She is definitely a feminist. She is definitely funny, and she is most definitely messed up. We learn all of this in the first 5 minutes, and spend the rest of the movie waiting to see whether she self-destructs or is somehow saved.

We first see Nina as she delivers a set on stage at a comedy club. Her act is mostly about sex and the misery of relationships. We soon learn why she seems to have little happiness in life. The abusive married cop (Chace Crawford, Tony Romo's brother-in-law) she has been seeing interrupts the one-night stand she was looking forward to. It's quite unsettling to watch this unfold, and it seems to be the final straw needed to push Nina to relocate from New York City to Los Angeles. It's southern California where her agent (Angelique Cabral) has arranged for to audition for "Comedy Prime" - a one hour comedy special produced by Larry Michaels (played by Beau Bridges).

In L.A., Nina rooms with a stereotypical southern California "New Age" type (Cate del Castillo) who senses energy fields and remains quite civil in her arguments with her partner (played by Clea DuVall). Mostly we see what a damaged soul that Nina is, and bearing an unfair brunt are her mother (Camryn Manheim), her mom's friend (Mindy Sterling, AUSTIN POWERS), and a fellow comic (Jay Mohr).

When Nina meets Rafe (Common, in a rare leading man role), she begins to show her first signs of actual human connection. And of course she is confused by this, and her self-destructive being rears up. The big reveal as to the cause of Nina's constantly confused state (I don't believe the therapy sessions are working) is held back until late in the final act ... and it's a doozy that leads to a painfully honest on stage meltdown.

Ms. Winstead is really terrific here, and she is absolutely believable in her stand-up bits. In fact, the montage of impressions and her constant fine-tuning of the act are almost as good as the heavy drama pieces she excels at. The film itself is kind of a mash-up of stories, but it's her performance that keeps us onboard ... even as we question her character's stability (and incessant hair tussling).

Saw Mary Winstead in Brain Dead, which is the only reason I watched this film. She absolutely killed it in that role, so there was a lot of good will and openness for me going in. 6/10 is generous, but for some reason I still like her.

For starters, she was playing a stand-up comic and I didn't think she was all that funny, and to go out of your way to bring up gross images that are supposedly funny regarding women may be part of the point of the film, but I didn't like it at all. Maybe women try to be as gross as men with comedy, I don't know 'cause I don't go to comedy clubs, the other female comediennes seemed to be going for that effect as well.

And, once again, maybe this was deliberate, but to have her pacing around topless in her apartment rehearsing for her act was a real turn off. I would guess that 10% of the population at large looks good naked or nearly naked (at least for me), and it takes away somewhat from my seeing her as attractive, as in an attractive leading lady. Guys are guys (unfortunately, I wish I wasn't so affected by the visual), but a film is a visual medium, I didn't appreciate having that bit of mystic removed.

That it was revealed this film was a vehicle for victims of abuse towards the end explained alot. But overall, I didn't feel that much for this character, I didn't feel like I got to know her, just saw mostly her acting out and having a very defensive approach to life- overall something women may relate to more, but it sure wasn't entertaining.

Nina Geld (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a troubled standup comic in New York City. She's in an abusive sexual relationship with married obsessive cop Joe (Chace Crawford). She finally decides to escape to Hollywood to audition for a comedy show. She lives with weird west coast type Lake (Kate del Castillo). She gets picked up by nice guy Rafe (Common).

I really like the New York part of the movie. It's dark and troubled. Nina is damaged and Winstead is better than expected. I like her standup. While it's not truly funny, it does highlight her anger issues. Then she heads out to the west coast. Lake is a Hollyweird stereotype. I can live with her. The more problematic character is Rafe. Common is playing too straight and nice. In a way, he's too bland and the initial meeting is a little creepy. The movie tries to do something with Ganja but that actress is doing a comedy bit. Rafe also has some false notes injected into him. The punch feels like a fake incident intended on generating drama. If it wants to do real drama, Joe would get his police brothers to put Rafe in jail. I am a little uncertain about this movie like Larry Michaels. It's a compelling character study. Winstead surprised me with her performance.

The title says it all: Mary Elizabeth Winstead is excellent in this role. The movie itself, however, is not good. The characters are not developed. The flow is not organic. The structured reveals that lead to the movie's denouement are so forced that authentic emotional truth reduces to cliche. I am less forgiving of movies like this because they (attempt to) manipulate the audience. A better movie would illicit compassion and empathy through the identification with the character, perhaps. All About Nina, rather, vomits telegraphed "depth" (which is, in truth, shallow) all over the screen in an effort to bypass development, story, character arc, and narrative and get to the "point". The truth is that few people are going to climax if their lover doesn't pay attention. Here, the "lover" is the screenwriter/director who doesn't pay attention to any of the needs of the viewer, In an attempt to "move" the viewer, we're manipulated at every turn. The big moment of the movie, however, fell on its face. There was nothing true about it for the story; there was nothing true about it in the development; there was nothing true about it for the character. It was just meant to shock, and by implication explain the rest of the movie. Without the "foreplay" of good writing and characters, I wasn't turned on, and the big climax didn't give me the pleasure or satisfaction that I would have wanted after spending two hours in bed with this movie.

That said, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is terrific as the sexy, acerbic, wounded comedianne. There is more enjoyment in watching fragments of her routines than there is in the rest of the movie.

Is it worth a watch? It isn't. Do I recommend? I most certainly do not. Would I like to see more Mary Elizabeth Winstead? Without a doubt.

This movie was alright, it featured strong performances from the lead actors but ultimately ends up falling short of its potential.

It has a few chuckles throughout but plays out as more of a romantic drama than any form of an actual comedy. By trying to navigate between multiple genres, it loses potency in both.

Also, while Mary Elizabeth Winstead does an excellent job in her role, Nina is written as such a profoundly unlikeable character that it makes it somewhat difficult to empathize with her even after the big twist.

Common also does a great job with his role but his character comes across as more of a Dogged Nice Guy trope than a realistic depiction of a person.