Ed's Next Move

I really liked this movie. So often characters in movies are bigger than life but this was a movie about real life characters. The difficulty for a young man moving to a big city. The awkwardness for a regular guy in finding that special someone, asking her out, and then the dating. It's hard not to like Ed. I also enjoyed the folksy music by "Ed's redeeming quality band". I especially enjoyed the song "more bad times". This movie was fun and I liked it.

Ed's Next Move is a small, quiet film that perfectly understands the "nice guy's" dating dilemma. It is about a very nice guy from Wisconsin, who moves to New York to avoid his ex and to study the genetics of rice. What he finds is an intelligent, attractive woman who runs away from him as fast as possible. After going against his nature and making a fool of himself on several occasions, Ed secures a date. After the date, she tells him that she has a boyfriend (does this movie get it or what!) Ed's Next Move does a wonderful job showing us a realistic beginning of a new relationship, and that makes this story so enjoyable and satisfying. This movie understands the hoops any nice guy has to go through, and is a wonderful cathartic experience for anyone who has attempted to ask a girl out and retreated before even asking the question.

For those who have commented that everything in this movie has been done

before, so what? The performances by the leads are quite charming and

effective. The movie is simple with little added to the genre, but what it does employ is rewarding to the viewer. The idea of Ed's fish-out-of-water situation is not overdone or used as a crutch. Instead, there are only minimal exaggerated comic moments of stereotypical New York moments. This movie, which I had

never really heard of, is sweet and filled with endearing characters involved in everyday circumstances.

I knew Matthew Ross looked familiar, and upon glancing at his filmography I

was surprised at how many smarmy characters he has played (usually a little

over the top). He is very charismatic and has a nice naive quality. The lead actress, who looks like Annabelle Sciorra's (sp?) relative, is also very likable and has a nice chemistry with Ross. I was very surprised at how enjoyable this film was. There is not a whole lot to the film, but it is very emotionally rewarding and worth checking out.

It was an attempt at a contemporary romantic comedy about a guy who moves to the big city ("the toughest move a guy can make"....huh?). After arriving there, he falls for a girl who sings in a folk act. Wackiness does not ensue. This movie certainly wasn't _bad_, but there was not one original thing about it. Jokes like, "guy doesn't want to wake up, so he throws beeping alarm clock out window to street" have been done a million times before on The Partridge Family and Three's Company. This movie is full of ideas that someone else already came up with. Ed certainly seems like a nice guy, and Matt Ross puts on a decent performance, but the movie is boring and unoriginal. If you want to see a really funny movie with a similar plot situation, see Swingers. But I wouldn't bother with Ed...

I found this film very charming. Unlike many films shot in New York City this one more closely resembled the New York I knew when I lived there (back in the late 80s) going to school and while I worked there the following two years; small dwelling spaces, parties at friends places, the local diner down the street, and the folk music scene. While the script could have been sharper the film more than makes up for it with the subtle but sensual sexuality of Callie Thorne, the at times stunning photography of Peter Nelson, and the really quite amazing soundtrack. Anyone looking for a film with heart will not go wrong giving this little known gem a view.