Crashing

Geez it's been a while since I've written a review but I've been in a rut seeing action-prison-bad-guy-does-good genre flicks that usually end up boring me after 20 minutes. The last film that actually amused me was the latest Star Trek (2009). It's been a dry spell when it comes to movies that go beyond face value - I kid you not...

Crashing (2007) had me interested from the starting credit music - a quirky, sparse little woodwind theme that would be repeated throughout the film.

The film is about a the travails of a writer, Richard McMurray (Campbell Scott) stumbling over himself and the roadblock of first novel success. Comfortable, complacent and frustrated by eternally trying to repeat the formula of his first book.

Richard's life gets ripped apart when his wife kicks him out of the house and freezes his bank accounts. At a creative writing presentation he tells of his writer's block and new sense of heady liberation due to circumstances beyond his control, and gets invited to crash at the apartment of a female student. And so Richard ends up sleeping on the couch of coeds Kristen and Jacqueline, provided that he critiques their own writing endeavors.

Much credit to Izabella Miko and Lizzy Caplan, who nicely contrast each other as the muse twins of dark and light. I've been a fan of Campbell Scott since Roger Dodger (2002) and here he is just as amusingly self-deprecating.

It's an engrossing movie that will pull you in as the author and two young girls intertwine in life and in fiction.

An example of mis-marketing just to make it seem more appealing to the popular audience, but completely misses the point of what makes "Crashing" so good. This is not a comedy about the sexual misadventures of a middle-aged man and two sexy co-eds. This is a funny, smart, well written film about writing.

The art of writing, the love of writing, the craziness of writing, or the fantasies of writing are all that you can say this is about. A once successful writer is now mired in a personal downward spiral, but finds himself crashing on the couch of two sexy college students. They want him to guide them in their own writing, and he wants to use them to inspire him back to great writing. And here is where we get into semantics. Is he using them to get into their pants? Is he using them to steal their ideas? Or is he merely using the idea of them? And is that "using" them?

Depending on how you view this film, he could be doing any or all of the above. Some of his actions are a little immoral, but he really is doing it all for the writing. Which we get a lot of advice on. It takes an awfully ambitious writer to write a movie about writing, and for the most part, I think they succeeded with "Crashing".

A film which is primarily shot in one location with three actors, a lot of the action occurs in his head. But this is well enough written that that works. Because the sexual tension, that is real. And funny. And clever. And "over-intellectualized". Did I mention this was a film about writing by writers for writers?

Don't expect a classic, just a good comedy/drama with a good ensemble cast. This movie about a writer who gets thrown out by his wife gets taken in by two female students after lecturing their class and winds up getting the inspiration for his new novel (after a severe case of writer's block) by snooping around in their email accounts and apartment. The fantasy scenes were hilarious, and I loved the opening parts where he learns he's been kicked out and the next scene with the class. The writer and two ladies work well together, and it's a movie about getting inspiration off each other, as he inspires them to write, too. Not a bad movie if you have time to kill. I liked it and you might too.

*** out of ****

This film is nothing less than a master-class in writing fiction. I quite understand the previous commentator's negative review; and I can see that this film will appeal to a very limited audience. If you have any interest at all in the craft of writing, particularly in the struggle to represent the human condition in words, then this is definitely the film for you. If not, it isn't. I would like to leave the review there, nothing further needs to be said. However, reviews must be at least 10 lines so I'll simply point this out: film-makers with the courage to tackle specialised subjects that will not appeal to mainstream audiences must be supported if we are to avoid CGI mediocrity. Give this superbly acted gem a chance!

Writer seeks inspiration in apartment of 2 college girls. You know the synopsis, or at least you think you do.

Well get ready for some surprises. Crashing follows the minds and imaginations of Richard, Kristin and Jacqueline as they create reality together. Or do they? Through their writing, the scenes of Crashing unfold in a series of parallel stories, intertwined, and interdependent.

Crashing unfolds with multiple threads and explores alternate possibilities. It's almost as if the movie is being written as you are watching it...

This movie is perfection to me. As a writer I saw myself in every scene. Thinking my way through situations. Imagining various outcomes. Creating characters and embellishing. ...Some would call it enhancing reality.

If you are a creative person, and especially if you are a writer, you will appreciate and love this movie. The slow, melodic music winds its way through the movie, carrying you along. Crashing is even better than the French erotic movie, The Swimming Pool, with a similar premise.