I recently watched Looking for the Jackalope, written and directed by Karl Shefelman, on Amazon Prime (free). The film follows our hero, the hapless Jordan Sterling, divorced author of the novel Looking for the Jackalope as he struggles with general malaise and some serious writer's block. The man's tank is empty.
Then an invitation to his 20-year college reunion arrives, and he also gets a call from an old girlfriend. Urged on by a college roommate and his agent, he decides to attend. As he makes his way to the event, we see several flashbacks to idyllic scenes of the young couple 20 years earlier, carefree and hitchhiking to New York. Of course, with each flashback, we see Jordan's growing need to believe that the fire from the 20-year-old romance can be rekindled.
Jackalope is not a typical rom-com, nor a buddy movie, though it has elements of both. It's more a movie about finding oneself. All of the acting is spot on, and Shefelman nails the mood of the reunion. The film has a neat reversal, the good kind, the kind that makes you say to yourself, "Of course,. Why didn't I think of that?" Later there is a line that is like the final piece of a puzzle. In an instant, it all comes together, and you see what Shefelman was up to all along. What a great trip!
