Monogamy

Theo (Chris Messina) is a Brooklyn wedding photographer with girlfriend Nat (Rashida Jones). He starts a side business Gumshoot to take faux voyeuristic pictures of his clients. Nat is taken aback by his client Subgirl (Meital Dohan). He starts stalking the mysterious woman. Nat is hospitalized for a minor injury and they're planning for their wedding. It all comes to a head and he breaks up with her.

This needs more drama. The Subgirl character is almost a red-herring. The movie needs a powerful scene between her and Theo. He's not that compelling. His drama is all in his head. This could be "Blowup" but it doesn't have nearly enough of moody or style. These are interesting actors especially Rashida Jones but there isn't enough of much else.

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?

The guy in this movie is a guy actually good for nothing except shooting goofy photos for some goofy people. I've never thought this kinda guy could make a living and be somebody's lover or husband until I saw this movie. A guy who already set up the wedding date with this nice and talented girl (Quincy Jones Daughter, a Harvard graduate) but still got some doubt of his commitment and still got some goofy sex fantasies, fancy a slut who hired him to shoot her goofy and weird sexual behaviors and some of her unspeakable fantasies that arouse him to fall for her. This guy is such an unworthy person that disgusted me to the extreme when I watched it. The screenplay is very blend and lukewarm, using N.Y.C. as the usual background for those young people who got nothing but daydreams. Just make me wonder how long this guy's marriage could survive. The only good stuff in this movie is the beautiful songs his soon-wife-to-be sang, other than that, it's kinda hollow and pointless.

Monogamy (2010) was co-written and directed by Dana Adam Shapiro. The basic concept of the film is interesting. A photographer--Theo, played by Chris Messina--moonlights as "Gumshoot." Gumshoot is hired by people to take candid shots of themselves. It's an interesting thought--what do we look like when we're being photographed, but we aren't posing.

The problem begins when Theo starts to photograph a striking blonde woman with whose life he becomes obsessed. This obsession begins to control him and eventually begins to cause a split between Theo and his fiancé Nat (Rashida Jones). I can't identify with a guy who doesn't have all that much going for him, and yet puts a wonderful relationship in jeopardy in order to follow his obsession. Of course, that's the point of the movie--if the obsession made sense, it wouldn't really be an obsession. If you can see things from Theo's point of view, you'll enjoy the movie. If not, probably not.

We saw this film, at the Rochester 360-365 Film Festival. (Dumb name, but good festival.) It will work better on a large screen than a small screen, because part of the enjoyment comes from seeing the Brooklyn and Manhattan locations. In my opinion, not a film worth seeking out, but probably worth a look, especially if you're from NYC.

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.