Everything for a Reason

I saw a lot of good movies @ AFI last year and this was one of them. Not only was the movie good but these guys also threw a party afterwards at Club Blue. The place was right down the street, which was smart and I got two free drinks because I attended their screening. That made me like the movie even more. I hope these guys make it.

I saw this film at the New York Comedy Film Festival at the Anthology Film Archives in November 2001 and was delightfully surprised at what I saw. My sister is a friend of Vlas and Charley (writer/director & producer) and I tagged along for lack of anything better to do. I'm glad I did. For those who have no idea about the movie, Everything For A Reason is a story of a handful of Greek Twenty-somethings and the relationship ups-and downs that they endure during a summer at the Jersey Shore. Not being Greek I was a bit skeptical at this aspect of the film when I first heard of it but was glad that it just played as a backdrop to the story and not the focus. To give a little more detail without ruining anything, Manny, the main character, is an aspiring screenwriter who is looking for a girl who he can have fun with but not get so involved as to overshadow his career. He meets Eve, the girl of his dreams and is exited to find out she's a virgin. Now, not having to worry about the relationship getting to far, he can focus on his career... or so he thinks. Meanwhile, Manny's best friend Teddy is relentlessly trying to get back with his girlfriend all the while trying to help Manny out with his problems. Tie this all in with more relationship woes and you come up with one of the most refreshing and original comedies in years. Although I love this movie and hope it finds good distribution so I could see it again, there are a few minor flaws that I would like to bring up. Although this could be the fault of the theater, the film's sound quality was at times horrible. I don't know if re-dubbing was possible on this film but the dialog goes from perfect to inaudible at times. There are also a few minor editing glitches that don't really affect the movie but annoy you anyway. Other than these few technical errors, my only complaint is in the first ten minutes. The beginning of this film is tolerable to poor if best. It feels like a bad home movie that is barely salvaged by a poor bathroom joke. I honestly wasn't expecting much of the film during the first few minutes but was blown away by the rest. This is a great movie that doesn't rely on shock humor to get you laughing. It's an intelligent and clever look on relationships centered within the Greek community and I recommend it.

I saw this film at the Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival (WBFF) and I have to say every time I think of this film a smile comes across my face. I'm not big on writing these on-line reviews, so this is going to be short.

Basically, if you get a chance to see this film go see it. There is one scene, a scene where the two lead characters "hook-up" for the first time, that is absolutely hilarious. That in and of itself is worth the price of admission.

"Everything for a Reason" is classic Boy Meets Girl stuff. This is a sweetheart of an indie romantic-comedy, guaranteed to make you smile, even if it all seems vaguely familiar.. Manny is a young Greek-American writer, still living at home and pursuing Eve, a virgin who has just broken it off with Jake (who's been cheating with Donna). Manny's friend Teddy is trying desperately to win back Jenny, and enlists Mike's help to trick her into giving him another chance. Mike is dating Joanne, who happens to be Eve's sister. Every character in the film is defined mainly by their romantic situation, whether it be boyfriend, girlfriend, fiance, or ex. The overlapping storylines are handled deftly by writer/director Vlas Parlapanides, who uses the lead character Manny as his autobiographical stake in this romantic puzzle. There's an awful lot of single young people having dialogues about love and sex, many scenes refrencing genre classics like "Swingers," "Moonstruck," "When Harry Met Sally..."

As the story unfolds, Parlapanides shifts the tone from funny and playful to sweet. While it's not hard to see where the action is heading, the film makes a fine case for sticking out the rough world of dating.