Naomi Jones wrote and starred in this movie, and it's an amazing accomplishment. You don't have to imagine she's beautiful because she is. I would compare her appearance to Anne Hathaway in "The Princess Diaries" or Rachel in "Glee". But maybe Lana is insecure (maybe this is the reason for the movie's title?) because in an early scene she feels she has to make herself look like a hooker. People with anorexia have a similar problem, thinking they are fat. And whether it is intentional or not, in one scene late in the movie, Lana doesn't look good at all. She could pass for a man dressed as a woman, and she looks older. Maybe it's the lighting.
However, Lana is so nice and considerate of others, always trying to help. Her personality makes me think of a less annoying Rachel. And yet there's always the feeling that she will end up going off the deep end or doing something else crazy. With others, she seems so nice, but alone, there is always the hint Lana has some mental problem. In fact, there's something weird about the editing, like we're always going back to the past in a very brief flashback.
Another great acting performance comes from Katie Morrison. Kate is a very complicated character and not predictable at all. Jones' writing for this character is superior. She seems fine but cynical when we first meet her. Well, of course. She's a typical New Yorker. Not really friendly, but not mean. Yet. Then it turns out maybe she's the insecure one, always depressed, always alone listening to terrible music, drinking, smoking, possibly doing drugs, even suggesting suicide. If she's an artist, her work looks like what kids do at elementary school. She's attractive but not really pretty. Yet. Later on, Lana has a positive influence on her and she shows promise of getting her life back, and at one point she looks beautiful. Not in an overdone hooker kind of way like Lana was earlier. Actually, there is a video on imdb at the time I am writing this and the first image you see is Kate when she looks beautiful. And Kate's ups and downs throughout the rest of the movie could have given us a quality production on its own, without Lana having any problems.
The men who played the boyfriends did a good job, and both were nice. Geoff had the bigger challenge in Kate, but he was patient.
If you're one of these people who likes a film that didn't take the easy route giving us something obvious and formulaic that will bring in audiences and money, but rather something that might get Oscar nominations or some other honor instead, this may be for you. I found the women's relationships interesting if complex, but I prefer my movies to be happier with simpler plots. Maybe simpler isn't the word, but you can have complicated and be more accessible.
There's not much here in the way of good music. There's Kate's loud depressing junk. And there is new age synthesizer as a character is just sitting there not doing much and, to me at least, annoying. I remember one scene that had something pleasant, and that still wasn't my taste. That's not important.
Some creative editing takes place at the end. It's very confusing but effective. We keep jumping back and forth between two scenes so it takes a while to understand what is happening. It doesn't fit a formula I certainly didn't see it coming. It's not ideal, but it's somewhat satisfying.
I guarantee this is not family friendly. Plenty of words get bleeped out. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what's going on. And there is sex and suggestions that sex will happen, and cheating.
This isn't the first movie I've seen that does this, but in the closing credits there is a list of people that are thanked that goes on for days. I can't imagine how all these people played a role in making the movie possible. There are several theater groups on this list. Anyway, the more people who are thanked, the less likely the film is to have been "commercial" or successful.
If I just watch what I get on broadcast TV, sometimes there will be a nice surprise. Surprise, yes, but nice? Sort of.
