Old Fashioned

I saw Old Fashioned at a "sneak peek" event in Florida and was pleasantly surprised. The scenery is just beautiful and really adds to the tender, rustic feel of the whole story. And the story itself is profoundly moving. The relationship between the two main characters is something that really resonated with me. I loved the chemistry between the two characters (Clay and Amber) and found things in both that are just like me. Amber is just adorable and I'd like to find a guy like Clay in the real world. I also loved the subtle nature of this "faith-based" film. It definitely affirmed my faith and my struggles to live as a godly, single person; but, it did so without hitting me over the head with religion (so many "faith-based" films seem to treat the audience like they're idiots! We get it, already!) This isn't just a good "faith-based" film, it's a good (even if a little slow) indie film -- period. I've never seen a film quite like it.

I found this movie to be excellent. The cinematography was crisp, complete and didn't stumble in its presentation. The acting was solid and believable, not overdone. The use of the soundtrack with the selected scenes was perfect. The music didn't draw your attention away from the picture, it was complimentary to the actions involved and provided a soft pulse. The story was well written and it made you think about what is important in both life and relationships in ways I feel most people have long since forgotten. I think you would be doing yourself a disservice if you choose not to wrap your arms around this film, settle into its warmth and open your soul to the message it delivers.

Let's start with our main character (and director) Clay. He is a 40+ year old man that runs an antique store while dressing like a frat boy with a surfer's haircut. Clay is so out of control of his desires that he can't even be in the same room with another woman and believes in the teaching's of a radio shock jock that says "women are stupid" (Direct quote) while desiring such power that he enforces his beliefs on others without question. Now you may think this gentleman is some kind of terroristic person attempting to impose sharia law on law abiding citizens. Surprise! Clay is a deeply religious Christian man that can't help stopping his friend's bachelor party and kicking everyone out instead of just leaving because he feels uncomfortable. Be as religious as you want, Clay, just let other people live their lives the way they would like to because this is America and that's kind of the whole idea.

The female lead is pretty charming, though, and the there are some great looking shots of the Ohio landscape, but more than anything this film is a boring lesson on how to be a preachy, controlling dick.

I liked the pace of the movie, the cinematography, the antique feel. Filled with a lot, what the danish call "hygge" Something I think is very precious and not often captured in many movies. The movie, on the surface might seem like a religious one if one want to see it that way but I for one, am not religious, and it did not seem like one to me as much as it did seem like a movie exploring the idea of 'dating' on a deeper level. To an extent, It did explore the idea of a person having a relationship with him/herself and its importance. Yes, the guy in the movie, did seem screwed up and had these silly rules to his lifestyle with regard to dating. But the girl was also screwed up except it didn't seem that way so much because that is perceived normal these days with everyone running away from their relationships to the next one. And this aspect is exactly what caught me about the movie- That we are all screwed up in many ways so we might as well take the time to get to know each other, which in the process, only helps us get to know ourselves better with the other person being a mirror. Romantic relationships have the power to take us to those realms in ourselves that no other relationship does. It is not easy. It is very confronting as the other person is a mirror to look into ourselves. Now during this process of looking into ourselves, many of us, run away, hide, create walls and boundaries and silly rules to protect ourselves, which is what the characters in the movie do as a result of the shadows that exist within them. I like the pace of the movie and the idea of taking it slow coz i guess facing our shadows and allowing someone into our lives does take time, being authentic and vulnerable with ourselves in the presence of another, does take time. Allowing ourselves to get intimate with another is allowing someone into our space and that takes some getting to know, and connecting, not just on the surface but on a deeper level. And that takes time which is a beautiful process. I also loved the dating ideas portrayed in the movie. Cheers to taking time and taking it slow :)Cheers to the "Old Fashioned" ways. It does have a charm too.

How do you make a movie about a young man who's so uptight around women that he won't even be alone in a room with one - and NOT make him come across as some sort of serial-killer-in-training? I don't know the answer to that question, and, apparently, neither do the people who made "Old Fashioned," a snail-paced, poorly acted, Hallmark Channel-level romantic drama that, intentionally or not, turns out to be an off-putting creep-fest.

Clay Walsh (Rik Swartzwelder, who also wrote and directed the film) is the moody antique shop owner who was once a lady-killer and frat boy in his youth, but who now spends most of his time over-thinking his life to the point where just about everyone around him - the audience included - has had it up to here with his borderline- psychotic sanctimoniousness. All, except Amber (Elizabeth Ann Roberts), that is, an attractive young woman who settles into this small Midwestern town with her cat and her dreams after her car runs out of gas there. Though she's supposedly out of money, we never see Amber actually looking for work since she's so busy trying to figure out what makes Clay tick - a full time job, in and of itself, apparently. Initially intrigued by this strange man with unorthodox ideas about love, sex and dating, Amber begins to see him less as a curiosity and more as a man of principle and honor the better she gets to know him (too bad the viewer never really comes to share that opinion of him).

About the best thing one can say about "Old Fashioned" is that its heart is in the right place and one feels almost guilty criticizing it, but, frankly, the movie is so slow-moving and talky that I could barely stay awake through large stretches of it (though there is one surprisingly thoughtful and effective scene involving a bachelor party, I will admit). Surely, there's got to be a better way of getting across the old I'm-saving-myself-for-marriage theme than this. For the problem is that, after being told what a fun, lively, energetic guy Clay was in college, then seeing what he's become now, the only conclusion we can come to is that Finding Jesus turned him into the Bore of the Century - or, at the very least, the ultimate wet-blanket, bringing down everybody's spirits along with his own. Somehow, I doubt that's what Mr. Swartzwelder had in mind when embarking on the project.