From the looks of it, Douglas (Reese) and Mattea (Benz) have been best
friends for forever, but today's the first time Douglas is to sleep over
at Mattea's place (for undisclosed reasons), and maybe the first time the
two are spending quite a bit of time (from sundown to bedtime) together,
which leads them to open up to one another (though it's mostly Mattea who
does the opening up) as well to quite a few awkward situations, as one
never can be sure their friendship won't lead to something more (but
doesn't, at least in this film) ... One of amateur auteur
Douglas Reese's very early features, one can't help but notice some of its
technical shortcomings, like sub-par sound, lack of proper lighing and
sometimes too static camerawork ... but one also has to see the emerging
talent here, with the film being reminiscent of some of Eric Rohmer's best
movies with its reliance on drawn out dialogue where the actual meaning is
to be found between the lines, many a deliberately awkward moment
interspersed into the action, a certain ambiguity to its proceedings, and
the emphasis on letting things flow rather than pushing a narrative
through. But that's not to say filmmaker Reese apes Rohmer, it's more like
kindred spirits walking down a similar path. Besides all of that, Benz and
Reese are really up to the task acting-wise and are able to totally carry
the film between themselves. I have to repeat here, not a perfect film
... but very promising all the same!
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