Monogamy

It starts off slow and dull and then gets even slower and duller. There's some entertainment value in seeing New York City from the Brooklyn side, but that palls after a few sequences. There's so little to commend this film, and even the stars can't make it interesting enough to be worth a watch. Avoid.

2/14/18. i watched this because I like Rashida Jones. But, even with all her star power she could not save this from cinematic mediocrity. So, Messina plays a bored photographer. Sadly, he's not the only one who's bored. And, playing a voyeuristic photog makes him even more of a snake than he was to begin watch. In the end it really makes you wonder what she ever saw in him.

I have no idea what my title means. But it was either that or attempt a lame pun about the Japanese art of paper folding.

"Monogamy" is a slow, stylish pseudo thriller about infidelity. But before you race into this expecting something racy like "Fatal Attraction", cool your jets, have a cup of General Foods International coffee and cuddle with your cat on the couch because it's more of that kind of movie. What I mean is that there aren't any erotic elevator sex scenes or boiling bunnies here; instead it's more of a deep, probing psychological exposé of a less-than-enthusiastic couple as they approach their wedding day. But it's told through an interesting story.

The story is about a photographer, "Theo" (Chris Messina), who is engaged to a musician "Nat" (Rashida Jones). Just as the sparks in their relationship are dying down, Theo takes on an assignment to candidly photograph the mysterious "Subgirl" (Meital Dohan) without her knowing. Thus, the stage of voyeurism is set, and when Subgirl starts doing naughty things, Theo begins to get obsessed.

Theo is not obsessed with desire, but rather he's obsessed with the notion that Subgirl and her liaison are engaging in extramarital affairs. And this begins to eat him up, causing him to be both jealous and secretive toward his fiancée Nat. As his obsession grows creepier, so the fiber of their relationship gets strained, and we begin to witness the downside of marriage before it has even occurred.

It may be useful to note that the writer/director of this film, Dana Adam Shapiro, in 2012 wrote the book "You can be right, or you can be married". I haven't read it, but we can guess from the title that it's not exactly a celebration of wedded bliss. It's a series of interviews with divorced couples, touching on the problems that led to their splits.

"Monogamy" fits in line with that description, and although it's listed by IMDb as a romance, it's hardly that. It might be worthy of note to mention that Dana Adam Shapiro has never been married, and neither have I. So I was able to enjoy this somewhat cynical portrayal of (impending) marriage objectively. If you are currently married... well, for starters do NOT watch this movie with your spouse unless you want a truly awkward evening. You might actually be more comfortable watching "Fatal Attraction" and reassuring each other that nobody's bunny will be boiled. "Monogamy", on the other hand, has a way of getting under your skin and making you wonder if there is such thing as everlasting fidelity.

The cinematic style is very artistic, making use of striking images, dramatic lighting and hand held camera work that keeps you in the "reality" zone. The darkness of the film lends itself to a menacing quality that makes you feel uncomfortable about everything. I would compare the style to the excellent films of Jay Anania & James Franco (Shadows & Lies, The Letter) as well as maybe Stephen Soderbergh (Sex Lies & Videotape, Magic Mike), particularly in regard to "real world" dialogue that seems improvised due to the natural delivery of the actors. This is definitely not a glossy Hollywood romance, so check it out if you're looking for something different.

If you have a short attention span, "Monogamy" may border on monotony. But hey, it's better than a boring night playing Monopoly. Or getting a lobotomy. OK I can stop now.

A photographer in Brooklyn named Theo, who normally snaps traditional wedding photos, recently started a service called "gumshoot." Participants are shot while they go about a scheduled activity of their choice while he hides in the shadows to capture something more genuine and then later gives the resulting photos in person. After about a dozen or so clients, he thinks he's got a pretty good impression of what to expect, such as an older gentleman carrying about a carefree day in the city with no scandal or malice involved. Though after getting contacted by the mysterious "Subgirl," for what's supposed to be a regular day on the tennis courts, he gets sucked into something more voyeuristic and naughty when she touches herself and only he can see it. She eludes meeting face to face and lets him choose the photos to send to an anonymous PO box, which not only builds up intrigue but places the rest of his life into a tailspin.

This essentially films the last stages of Theo (Chris Messina) just before he plans on getting married in drawn out and slow sequences. For those not familiar with such deliberately paced films, the key word is "natural": loose hand-held shots to make it more edgy, fractured dialogue that comes with enough stammering to compete with "The King's Speech," and casual humor that's so dry you could spark a brushfire. There are a few hints dropped to what it was like in the past with his fiancé Nat (Rashida Jones), though this tried to show a breakdown in only a short duration by having him question himself and lose all perspective just from his fiancé not giving him any, to the perverse new client Subgirl, as well as his two buddies--one bossed around in marriage and the other separated but happy in single life. They frequently attempt to have the camera do the talking and the main actor capture subtle emotion on his face for what he's contemplating and going through. However a proper outline of the past wasn't entirely established and the scenarios at present--despite being extensively shot--don't seem detrimental enough to sabotage what he has going for himself on a whim. It's hard to relate or reason with almost anything he's doing except to say he feels trapped and is using this as a long and fanciful way out.

"Monogamy" tried to be purely emotion as a share of Theo's motivations are based on raw feelings rather than life experiences or even logic. Eventually it makes you want slap the character up side the head because he's so catered to one side and tell him to just make a decision instead of acting like an immature 30-something adult who still uses passive aggressive behavior like a teenager. Theo starts to sulk, become erratic and sheltered from those around him. This isn't afraid to show him in a negative light, as he turns into a corner dweller, binge drinker, pot smoker, mask wearer, snooper, restroom masturbator, semi-cross dresser and in his self-destruction pushes his nice and pretty fiancé away because monogamy is terrifying and how he's behaving apparently isn't to himself but some kind of screwball way of coping till a magic solution pops up. It's ridiculous that someone who lives in a bustling city and with access to thousands upon thousands of websites that show pornographic videos and images nowadays would be so naive and sheltered that this Subgirl woman would be cause enough to throw off his entire outlook from taking snap shots of her on only the second occasion. I mean this isn't some small town yokel or even young enough to be believably impressionable like Kyle MacLachlan's character in the film "Blue Velvet." He turns into an amateur detective to find out more about Subgirl, though the movie moves at such a lethargic pacing that the final secret about how to make it work in a monogamist relationship--while dissimilar to the usual material a la "Unfaithful"--is pretty evident by the halfway mark.

There's some potential here. The gumshoot concept that involves sneaking around to naturally capture someone was an intriguing idea. Just imagine how many people's vacation photos you might accidentally be in that are probably more natural than all those posed ones. It shows that not all relationships have to go the conventional route to work. It's nice to see a movie that at least makes an attempt at growth with characters, though I'd like to think "Monogamy" could have improved with some more back-story, possibly a younger cast or a smaller setting to make it more convincing towards their behavior, or some tighter edits in other areas where nothing substantial was going on besides the camera just rolling to get lucky and stumble upon something. (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

This indie film walks the well-beaten path of a couple with commitment issues and features a silly plot device that allows one of them to obsess over an absolute stranger. The "twist" couldn't have been better spotted miles off if it were surrounded by road-flares.

And I'm getting a little sick of poorly written dialog in screenplays hiding behind what used to be called "cinema vérité". If you're not shooting a documentary, write dialog that either progresses the plot along or drop the stuttering, meandering "realistic" speech patterns altogether. It's boring watching actors stumble their way through scenes in which they need to communicate verbally.

On a side note, it's such a shame that Rashida Jones can't land better roles. I think there's some untapped potential there. Or maybe it's just because I think she's cute. Who knows?