I watched this a few days ago, so some of the details of the story or of how it was shot might allude me. I usually keep a note pad with me when I watch a movie so then I can jot down notes about what I like or dislike, as well as thoughts that come to mind. This time I didn't have that.
Caleb has picked his younger brother (Peter) up from the university that he goes to and is driving him back to their hometown for Thanksgiving. On the way they stop off at Peter's girl friends house (Emma) because she is coming with them. Caleb makes it pretty clear what he thinks of Emma, and for all women, they are whores. He was recently cheated on and has now developed insomnia which for the most part can explain his strange behavior for the rest of the movie.
Caleb goes from hating Emma and threatening her to being infatuated with her, I think that can be chalked up to the fact that she looks a lot like the girl who had just cheated on him. We meet the brothers father Donald who seems a little lecherous, but mostly harmless. Caleb's actions threaten to mess up the relative calm that has existed in their dynamic for the last 8 years. He stays away from his father, and Donald does the same.
The acting was pretty good, it's a little over the bench mark of the "This is an indie movie, do you get it?" It fits all the things that someone thinks an Indie feature should be, overly melodramatic. Certain characters aren't fully rounded simply because the writer thought that the crazier the character, the more interesting they are, thus why write the more normal ones better. In this way the script sort of failed in a way. Caleb is not likable for the most part, even the nice things he does have ulterior motives, and everything he does hurts someone else in some way. He is not at all mature, and not someone that's easy to get behind, and I didn't.
The girl who plays Emma is to cute, when they cast like this and write this sort of character they are just looking for the male members of the audience, and some of the women to fall in love with her. She is a little to perfect, just barely messed up enough that she needs saving, a little rebellious, but the girl that everyone wants. I did like the twists they did with her though, you think you know her and what she's about but you don't really.
It's not shot any great way, parts of it were to bright for it being night, other parts screamed needless quirky, but overall that didn't really take away from the story at all. My main sort of problem with it was it didn't really do much for me, I don't really care that I've seen it, it was merely mediocre.
The writing and the directing show promise, and the actors did a good job with the limited characters and story they had. 6/10 stars.
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: Adam Scott, Brittany Snow, Alex Frost, J.K. Simmons
I liked it.
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