The Middle of X

I stumbled onto The Middle Of X because I love Colin Egglesfield and I am glad that I did.

Colins character "Mack" didn't move the needle for me during the movie. However when the movie ended (a very surprising moment) I realized that his character being the least interesting was probably intentional.

Theres a ton of dialogue in the movie, most of it was very real and intersting, the balance was a bit too obvious.

There are a lot of relatively unknown actors in this movie that I now want to see more of what they can do. Ronnie Gene Blevins and Josh Cooke in particular.

I'd like to see more from the writer/director Peter Skillman Odiorne also.

Bottom line is this movie was a breath of fresh air with a sincere message in a small indie wrapper.

1. The most successful GenXers are drunk all day, every day.

2. When you turn 45, you're not going to look remotely like you did when you were 18.

3. Wives who aren't blonde are miserable.

4. Wussy "nice guys" aways wear a gingham shirt.

5. If you increase the amount of time you spend buzzed by half an hour per day every year, eventually you can be buzzed all your waking hours.

6. Lines paraphrased from "Some Kind of Wonderful" sound really pathetic when coming from middle-aged actors.

7. When one bad boy taunts another, if the victim doesn't get angry, it's because he's recording it all on a cell phone.

8. 45-year-olds still care about whose daddy is richer, even when daddy is dead.

My title sums up my review. Its quiet, like a stage play. The actors give their performances in long, un edited scenes that might be boring for most over stimulated viewers but there was something refreshing about it for me.

"The Middle of X" is a good watch for GenX-ers and maybe even their children / aging parents. It is a dialogue heavy light-drama. The story aims at a very specific audience but if you look past the type of characters there are life messages for people of all walks of life.

The production has an indie look which is basic in some places but holds well overall. The writing shows flashes of an authentic voice but sometimes gets weighed down with too much tell don't show.

There are a lot of characters/actors, but somehow they all fit in. Colin Egglesfield and Nicky Whelan were OK as the leads but there are some strong supporting performances by Ronnie Blevins and Jason Grey stanford.

I don't usually spend time reviewing anything online but a couple of the reviews here felt like Trolls an haters so I thought a fair write up was needed.

Overall it's a good movie, not great, but the ending stuck with me.

The Middle OF X shines a light on an overlooked group of people - upper class white people - and the genuine ups and downs that they encounter. In this day and age that might be very unpopular but kudos to the filmmakers for having the guts to make this movie.