Love & Debt

I just used the word "soulless" for a show a couple of days ago. Weird. If I could figure out some clues this and and that other had in common in the clues I saw before I watched them to know what to be in the look out for to avoid another with this very flat, no values, no beliefs, no interest or humanity feel some shows have nowadays! Some just seem to have no entertainment value and no redeeming qualities to balance with that. Although this one was less terrible than the other. I was trying to decide between 4 and 5 stars and decided I could go up to 5 in comparison even if that did seem to high.

Love and Debt tackles a lot of familiar issues with humor and heart. The central issue of debt expands out to the lies/half truths it breeds, intimacy issues necessarily follow and a family trying to negotiate the "normal" growing pains of time and age ruptures at the seams. But we get to see the other side of the coin through the debt collectors eyes (wow, collections callers are people too? Who knew???) which adds a lovely surreal absurdist kind of take on this whole bizarre system of money and "success." Filled with engaging performances, the film strikes the perfect balance of laughter and sincere depth.

Overall it was an ok movie, not bad and not good either, just ok. But it could have been so much better, like lots of other American movies it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a comedy or a drama. Too bad because it was so boring at times. And then this debt collector character, so unrealistic, so soft.

I was moved by this indie about a family fighting to find their way back to one another when debt splits them apart. You'll likely find the humanity reflected between the people who owe money and those going after them as interesting as I did. I found the mother daughter relationship especially touching and was particularly impressed by the teen daughter's acting skills. A good watch, I recommend it.

This is a move about a family coping with household debt, a subject that is rarely dealt with honestly in cinema in spite of the central role financial stress plays in most modern lives. The themes are heavy but the film has a light hand, 'Love and Debt' makes some very timely points in the way that films should, not by telling us all about them but by showing us real, flawed characters in action as they try to cope with what life brings them and struggle to rediscover their true priorities. The cast is outstanding and full of familiar faces. The entire cast delivers complete and compelling characters that never strain or reach to hit an emotional moment. The excellent cast benefits from the well crafted script and the confident directorial hand provided by Valerie Landsburg. Her cast is as honest and unpretentious as her own directorial style Supporting characters are fully drawn and given moments to shine. I especially enjoyed the understated acoustic score which softly supports the narrative and helps move the story forward without intruding on the moments, the actors or the audience's own process. This is a well realized gem of a movie, every aspect of the film making is top quality, sound and photography, editing and design. I strongly recommend 'Love and Debt' to anyone whose ever balanced a checkbook.