The One I Love

It's hard to relay the joy I felt watching The One I Love, Charlie McDowell's first full-length feature. It's the kind of film you'll remember for a long time because it breaks so many boundaries. It's the kind of film Spike Jonze might come up with, minus some of the academic pretensions he sometimes clings to.

The trailer for The One I Love is almost perfect. It doesn't spoil the premise of the film, and neither will I.

Mark Duplass (who also produced along with his bro, of course) and Elizabeth Moss are excellently cast as Ethan and Sophie, two not-so-newlyweds who are encountering all too typical problems "relating."

At the suggestion of their therapist (Ted Danson, in a just-right cameo) they spend a weekend at a rather large rental house, unsuspecting of the lengths their counselor is willing to go to in order to motivate them to "connect."

The One I Love is a high-wire act by anyone's standards. The script is especially brilliant, but it doesn't spit its brilliance in your face constantly and then ask for your approval with laughter or the occasional tear. Instead, it dabbles in elements of Sci-Fi and Fantasy but doesn't let the main characters (or the audience) off easily by subjugating the human story to questions of logistics. In other words, this isn't a movie for the compulsively left-brained and anal. The performances and plot are engaging enough to make you accept this often absurd but always engaging film for what it is.

It takes guts to break the rules, even more talent to make it work. With The One I Love, Charlie McDowell seems destined to reprove the adage that talent runs in the family.

This is a slow start, but the second half makes it worth a watch. You better know nothing about the film, just have it and enjoy your time. Because that was the case for me and then I found it a good one. I don't know this director, but Mark Duplass was doing such kind of unique concept small films. So there's no surprise, except I did know I would end up liking it very much.

When it comes to the film theme, kind of resembles 'Coherence'. The whole film revolves around a married couple, except in the beginning. So it is a minimal cast film that is set in a remote place villa. As their therapist's instruction a couple who are on the edge of losing their marriage, tries a weekend getaway to patch the differences. But end up encountering the strange events that pleases them more than what they've expected. When they begin to realise the reality, comes the trouble to fix it once for all.

The third act was amazing. The pace keeps getting better and the tension in the story simply creates enough curiosity about the ending. But the conclusion was very basic and guessable. I liked the honest than too much fancy. Still the viewers look for the answers regarding how it ended which is kind of a wide open for the discussions.

I love modern sci-fi dramas, especially in the last one decade, I have been enjoying them a lot, which are highly intelligent yet casually narrated on the screen that anybody can understand easily. If you had liked films such as 'Coherence', 'Another Earth', 'Her', 'Melanchony' et cetera, then surely would have a good time with it.

7/10

Ted Danson is a shrink who sends a troubled couple (Sophie & Ethan) to a weekend getaway that, he assures them, will help them resolve their marital problems. At first, one of the couple manifest better relationship skills, while the other reverts to form. Then visa versa. What can be happening?

Those of us who grew up watching TWILIGHT ZONE 60 years ago would recognize the dramatic 'device' unfolding. This is an excellent take on that premise, with more time for twists/turns in a full-length movie. Some unneeded bad language & a couple of make-out scenes. Sorry- no spoilers here. Enjoy. 8/10

A forehead-wrinkling bit of relationship fantasy that'll stick in your teeth for days. I found a lot of thematic similarities between this one and Being John Malkovich. Though it's not nearly so dark and grim about it, The One I Love delights in asking similarly deep, puzzling questions about the root of an unhappy relationship and the sense of futility that's so often associated with mending something so broken. Of course, like Malkovich, it's also based around a weird, jolting plot device that skirts explanation for its own benefit. The real allure of that vehicle, of course, isn't with the solemn inspection of its construct, it's with the games it directs with the main players. Usually I'm the first to complain when such an elephant is left ignored in the back of the room, but in this case (if you'll excuse the string of metaphors) I think it would be a case of missing the forest for the trees. It's not perfect - the false-finish is telegraphed and the second act sags at times - but it deserves praise for trying something so fresh, and for evenly exploring both sides of the central relationship. Men will see the movie one way, women will see it another, but both will leave with a better understanding of the other's perspective.

Well, OK. Read this one.

I just caught this film at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival. It was a last minute addition to the Festival program, and it was probably the best film I saw there (though my attendance this year was, admittedly, limited.) After an evening of seeing two mediocre films, I was seeking out something to end the evening on a high note. Playing at 9:15 was a film entitled "The One I Love" starring Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss and Ted Danson. As there was nothing in the program about the film, I grabbed the ol' smart phone and started to do some research. The first thing I found was a plea to STOP reading about the film and JUST GO SEE IT. Needless to say, I found this very intriguing… so I did just that. And I was glad that I did. I will say little about this film and what I do say may not generate any interest in the film for you, but if you like films with terrific performances and an original thought behind them, then consider checking this film out when it plays in your area.

Duplass and Moss play a married couple whose relationship has grown stale. Seeking the help of a therapist (Danson, whose on-screen time is probably less than five minutes), they agree to go on a retreat and try to rediscover and reignite the feelings they once had for each other.

And that's where I have to stop.

Screenwriter Justin Lader was in attendance and had a great Q&A session with SFFS Programmer Rod Armstrong and the audience but I can't even discuss THAT as it too would spoil your complete enjoyment of this film. Hell, I went looking for a trailer to post for the film before I realized that there isn't one because… well, you know what trailers usually do.

So take a chance. Resist the urge to figure out what I'm NOT trying to say. "The One I Love" is the kind of movie that can generate hours of post-film discussion, particularly with your significant other. If you love movies, then you should respect that.

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