Highball

It's a nice surprise to see so many famous names get together for a (very) low budget film like this (the end credits celebrate its being filmed in just six days). Even nicer than that is the incredibly witty dialogue and situations that are so perfectly satirized at a party. This film follows a group of couples (and the permutations therein) and their friends at three parties- a housewarming, Hallowe'en, and New Years. You've been to one of these parties. You know these people. There's the insufferable prick that keeps getting invited, theres the Grudge between two guys, there's the ex-girlfriend dating someone else now... etc. It's a BRILLIANTLY funny movie, and there it gets funnier each time you watch it- too many of them go over your head the first time round.

A small group of friends attend three different parties spread months apart. Some funny bits, some funny gags, but the film feels incomplete. I choose to attribute the good parts to Noah Baumbach, not out of liking his other work, as I have yet to see his "Kicking and Screaming" film (heard nothing but good things though), but rather because I REALLY want "The Life Aquatic" to be great. And I pin the blame of the bad scenes on the shoulders of Christopher Reed, because..well because the man made "The Sixth Man" 'nuff said. The acting is good all around though. Kudos to that.

My Grade:C+

Where i saw it: Showtime

I love Noah Baumbach's other films, even Mr. Jealousy, and I've always been a big fan of Dean Wareham (and Luna), so I wondered why I'd never even heard about this particular film until so many years after it was released. I'm assuming that Mr. Baumbach tried to keep people from seeing it, because I went to see so many indie films back in the 90s, I wondered how I'd managed to miss it.

Watching Highball made me really appreciate things I normally take for granted in other films...things like direction, cinematography, lighting, editing, set design, acting, etc. There is so much more that goes into filmmaking besides hiring a group of actors to stand in front of a camera and read from a script. A mediocre script.

Maybe had they hired someone like Parker Posey to star in it, or just given Chris Eigeman a bigger role, the whole thing would have come together. But probably not.

I just watched this film and I was amazed at what an effect It had on me. It was very funny and weird, but most of all it was true. The writing was sharp and often hilarious, but the performances are what really pull it off. I often say that Chris Eigeman steals any movie he is in, but it doesn't happen in this movie. All the actors hit the right mark to create something that is rare in current independant films. No one in this film over or under acts. If you love dialogue driven comedies with some fine nuanced perfomances (ie Whit Stillman, kicking & screaming) you'll enjoy this flick.

If this were a student film, I would understand, but it's not. The director takes a pseudonym because, well at least I believe, because it's an experiment gone very wrong. I'll make a list

1. The lighting, blunt, bullying, washout. It's almost unnerving to watch as if a science fiction.

2. No story served with a never ending plate of hit or miss bon mots. I call it self-indulgent. I won't lie to you and say there aren't flashes of wit and charm... there are, but I find that this film is very much like what it shows: a person who tries too hard and has you cornered at a party.

3. The set... it's soooo dark. Why? Do you want me to have a nervous breakdown instead of laughing which is the intent I assume.

4. Noah Bambaugh has made me laugh a lot in his other films. All the while, I felt that he had the potential to go off the rails into the realm of pretentiousness, banal, insufferable New York upper east/west side intellectual hipster dreck. In the previous films he created memorable, earnest characters and a plot. Not this time... without story you are left with nothing.