Seeing Other People

"Seeing Other People" is very similar to the British original series "Coupling" so it's nice to know that American sit com writers can be guffawingly funny about sex and relationships when freed from the networks.

While it's male/female co-written, by Maya Forbes and director Wallace Wolodarsky, the premise feels like a male fantasy gender-switch of wanting both free love and the laundry done, though both guys and gals do end up getting their comeuppance.

Jay Mohr, as a mensch for a change, and Julianne Nicholson, who was captivating in the drama "Tully," considerably humanize the coincidental goings on through their sincerity.

Lauren Graham and Josh Charles enjoy being deliciously nastier sidekicks than their respective "Gilmore Girls" and "Sports Night" personas. Andy Richter does a surprisingly grown-up turn as the most grounded of the group on the sexual merry-go-round.

It may have been shot on video and blown up to 35 mm as the print was a bit fuzzy. The font on the credits was the largest I've ever seen in a film so I could see that the director and Liz Phair had a cameo, though I think we only saw her legs, and that several sit com directors and producers were thanked. The excellent songs and music were not identified, however.

Alice (Julianne Nicholson) and Ed (Jay Mohr) are in love, live together, and are going to be married. The timid Alice realizes that she hasn't really slept with many men and regrets that. She suggests to Ed that they have sex with other people before getting married. He doesn't want to, but she insists that if they are both completely honest, it could work. He reluctantly agrees.

This movie works for the first half. It is funny, clever, and well-acted. Unfortunately, making a movie about polyamory that has something interesting and unique to say is really difficult. This storyline becomes less and less serious halfway through. The comedy turns screwball and is pretty ridiculous. We also see glimpses of side-character relationships (including two dishonest cheating friends, as well as a single friend dating a single mom) that ostensibly serve to compare and contrast with the lead relationship, but none of these stories go anywhere far enough to accomplish this. This movie's saving grace is its solid B-list ensemble cast including Josh Charles, Lauren Graham, Helen Slater, Jill Ritchie, and Andy Richter. On a sidenote, I watched this movie because rock goddess Liz Phair is in it. She has one pointless scene and you can't even tell its her. Sigh!

This indie film is worth a look because of the enormous talent of its creators, Wallace Wolodarsky and Marsha Forbes. Mr. Wolodarsky has directed the young cast, and he is to be praised for this effort.

The premise of the film is a cautionary tale of the danger for wanting something one can't have. Which is the story of Alice and Ed. After living together for a while, Alice suddenly gets restless because she imagines she's lacking experience in the sex area. Alice and Ed's relationship, while not an example of ideal happiness, is a comfortable way to share their lives with one another. That is, until the moment Alice and Claire, her sister, happened to bump into a sexual encounter by another couple that has no clue of being observed.

This incident makes Alice reevaluate her own sexual life with Ed; she finds it lacks substance. When she proposes 'seeing other people', Ed is shocked, to put it mildly, but not wanting to contradict Alice, he decides to go along. What happens next is that both Alice and Ed enter into a world that's been unknown to them. The people they meet, in the end, are not worth the trouble. They sadly realize at the end, they were made for each other.

The film is worth watching in order to see the amazing Julianne Nicholson, who we happen to have liked in another indie film, "Tully". Ms. Nicholson reminds us of a young Shirley McLaine; she projects such a luminous quality about her, that is hard to take one's eyes from her whenever she is in a scene. This young actress proves she is an accomplished performer who gets better with each new appearance. Basically, she carries the movie. Her Alice is a study in contrasts. Alice is a decent woman who thinks she is inadequate in pleasing Ed because of her inexperience.

Jay Mohr, is an excellent match for Ms. Nicholson. Both do wonders together. His Ed is perfectly credible. We have known people like him. Deep down inside, he is a good person, who suddenly gets himself in a situation he didn't call for, yet, he goes along only to discover he is too decent and not cut out for a life of gratuitous sex with the willing women that have no problem with a tumble in the hay, just for fun.

The rest of the cast is wonderful. Lauren Graham does some amazing work as Claire, Alice's yuppie sister. Andy Ritcher is also wonderful as the grounded Carl, the nerdy friend who finally finds out fulfillment when he meets Penelope, a single mother. As Penelope, Helen Slater, makes a felicitous, albeit of a short, appearance in the film.

The director is enormously gifted, who will no doubt go places because he shows he is well suited for the job.

All motion pictures i have experienced of the Sundance film festival, were not impressive. This however is an exception. I loved this movie, and i believe it the perfect movie for all couples.

Anyone wanting to watch a movie produced by a film company called "Pariah", would want to think twice- however after seeing the trailer and realising Lauren Graham was in it(being a HUGE Gilmore Girls fan), well it was worth a try. Julianna Nicholsan is perfect - i believe this is her first starring role, Jay Mohr is average BUT Lauren Graham's sarcastic attitude brought to this movie is AMAZING. I wish she could have had a greater on screen time.

This was a good comedy in years. I have found bedroom comedies very pleasing - but this certainly was an exception. The standard of this movie proved that it could have done extremely well commmercially( it did well critically), if released in theaters.

"Seeing Other People" is a daring romantic comedy about a couple named Ed and Alice (Jay Mohr and Julianne Nicholson) who are engaged and plan to be wed soon. They live together but are both having doubts about their relationship. Alice realizes she's had so few sexual relationships in the past, she might just be marrying Ed because she's never felt anything else. So they agree to begin fooling around with other people for a while to test their own relationship.

The movie balances a prescient question - by focusing too much on the "What if?" aspects of life, can it in fact do the opposite and only make you feel more constrained? When Ed begins having sex with a college girl he begins to become addicted and almost forget about Alice - when he realizes this, it scares him.

I hadn't heard anything about this film in advance but I enjoyed it. It's not extremely well-made and definitely has that purposefully low-budget indie feel to it - but it's a lot better than most romantic comedies out there in the mainstream today.

Check it out if you get a chance.