Lovelife

Lovelife has to be one of the worst movies I've seen in recent years. Jon Harmon Feldman's pathetic attempt at a Woody Allen-esque romantic comedy was painfully embarrassing. Granted, some of the cast is talented, just not in this film. Matthew Letscher's character Danny was especially annoying, with every "witty" remark, I really wanted to slap this film, if only I could. I sat through it, but you don't have to.

When I saw the description and cast list for this movie, I didn't hold out much hope as to its quality. I expected either some ridiculous Zalman King -esque soft-porn thing or the cinematic equivalent of a sitcom. I was pleased to discover that I was wrong; this is a well-made, entertaining movie with engaging characters and great dialogue. The film focuses on the rather complicated romances of seven people living in an unnamed university town. All of the characters are interesting, but I was most fascinated by the neurotic, talkative Amy, played very convincingly by the charismatic Carla Gugino. On the whole, I found this to be a very clever, enjoyable film.

Overall Rating: 7 (out of 10), or 3 stars (out of 4)

Well, I thought that the film was very sincere and realistic. It did a very good job of eloquently expressing a few relationship situations. The cast did a great job at drawing me in. All the characters were believable and the writing was very heartfelt. I specially like Carla Gugino's character, Amy. I wish I knew someone like that.

How this one got lost in the cinematic cracks is beyond me. I'm totally loving Carla Gugino these days ever since Snake Eyes but when I saw Saffron Burrows and Sherilyn Fenn in the credits also, I just had to sit and watch. To think I was going to see Logan's Run. I could not get enough of this film. Great writing, subtle direction, and an assurance I haven't seen since Soderberg's Sex, Lies & Videotape. The actresses are great but the actors aren't shabby either. Matthew Letscher has impeccable comic timing. Bruce Davison is so warm and giving in his perf. And Jon Tenney, he's not just Teri Hatcher's beau in my eyes any more. Watch for his scene where he melts a coed into his arms only to be driven to tears by Saffron Burrows a few minutes later. I can't wait for Mr. Feldman's next feature.

This is a story of 6 people's love life, and how in the space of 90 minutes can turn upside down.

The film itself was enjoyable. However, I did see some problems. firstly, most of the indoor scenes are inadequately illuminated. It leaves me thinking whether they are not having enough lamps around. Secondly, in the initial 20 minutes of the film, the scenes seem fragmented and jump around between characters. Thirdly, although this film is marketed as a comedy, it simply is not funny enough. The end result is that the film becomes plain and a straight-forwardly told story.

This film is OK to watch, but don't expect it to be a groundbreaking film.