The Last Time You Had Fun
Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures
It's really strange how indie trailers seem to give the entire film away, like people need to be spoon fed every good point of these films in order for anyone to go see them. The market for independent film is broadening, and in the past five years Netflix has sincerely turned on millions of people to films they may never have known about unless they were shown to them via a recommendations list. As such a person I can tell you there's little fanfare around this Gravitas Ventures film about four people in the throes of middle age, unable to see themselves for who they truly are.
The four stars of this film are each great comedic actors in and of themselves. Mary Elizabeth Ellis shines bright on "It's Always Sunny," as has Eliza Coupe on "Happy Endings," Demetri Martin in all his stand-up specials, and Kyle Bornheimer on every cancelled sitcom he has ever headed. These prominent TV actors actually do show a certain amount of control and craft to their performances, but it's truly the chemistry between the characters that makes this film watchable. Ellis and Coupe are great as two asymmetrical sisters, whose banter make for the best character development of the film, and create an ending that asks bigger questions than most indie films dare ask.
On the flip side those questions are not answered, the characters are cluttered and uninspiring, and their issues are often left unsaid and untended throughout the film. The point of indies, which doesn't get the funding and gravitas of a bigger film, is that there's more room to explore the inner complexities of the human mind. The most complex issue of the film is in the ending, but all the other issues aren't very interesting, and they're pretty fixable. If you hate your wife, get a divorce. If you want to find someone new, wait a while and then start dating again. These are problems that, while emotionally devastating and have serious consequences, are not all that intriguing, especially when you don't process them throughout the runtime of your film.
This isn't the absolute worst indie film out there, and it's not the laziest, but it's one of the easiest to watch. If someone offers no change in the flow of the worldwide cinematic experience and leaves you with unfulfilled wants for said characters that's not attached to their development, than it's not a good movie. Watch for the actors, but nothing else.
