Taking a look to see if anything had been added to Netflix UK over the last few days,I discovered that a post-apocalypse Comedy with Julia Stiles was going to be taken off the site in a few days time.Being a fan of the post-apocalypse (and also having enjoyed seeing Stiles in some titles) I decided that it was the best time to visit the disaster zone.
The plot:
For their third date Tracy Scott decides to take her date Glenn Randolph to a couples brunch hosted by her sister Emma Mandrake.Shortly after everyone arrives for brunch,the TV,phone and internet start to shut down.Caught up blaming each other over who has not paid the bill,Emma and Pete Mandrake catch the other couples by surprise,by revealing that they are getting divorced.Reeling from the news,the group get a surprise visit from neighbour Hal Lousteau,who tells the couples that they must stay in the house,due to five,possibly nuclear, bombs having just gone off.
View on the film:
Spending the whole film in the house as the world ends,writer/co- star/director Todd Berger & cinematographer Nancy Schreiber give the movie a warm,free-flowing improvised atmosphere,as rough-edge whip- pans catch relationships in the house ending with the world.Although he does not step outside,Berger does very well at drawing a rough impression of the events taking place outside,,with the crackle of radio/phone calls and the odd front door visit hinting at the disaster unfolding just down the street.
Offering the perfect black Comedy backdrop with the apocalypse,the screenplay by Berger largely leaves comedic set-pieces for a dry,bitter wit being fed by the ripples of Emma and Peter's marriage problems. Casting everyone in the wacky shade,Berger gives each characters weird edges a delicious kooky warmth,which shines from Randolph being completely uncomfortable,to Hal's hilarious matter of fact warning. Joined by the off-beat delights from Kevin M. Brennan and Erinn Hayes,David Cross and Julia Stiles give great performances,thanks to Stiles giving Tracy a sharp shot of level- headed sass,whilst Cross raptures Glen with an unexpected dash of mad sincerity.
Final view on the film:
A movie that is far from disastrous.
The plot:
For their third date Tracy Scott decides to take her date Glenn Randolph to a couples brunch hosted by her sister Emma Mandrake.Shortly after everyone arrives for brunch,the TV,phone and internet start to shut down.Caught up blaming each other over who has not paid the bill,Emma and Pete Mandrake catch the other couples by surprise,by revealing that they are getting divorced.Reeling from the news,the group get a surprise visit from neighbour Hal Lousteau,who tells the couples that they must stay in the house,due to five,possibly nuclear, bombs having just gone off.
View on the film:
Spending the whole film in the house as the world ends,writer/co- star/director Todd Berger & cinematographer Nancy Schreiber give the movie a warm,free-flowing improvised atmosphere,as rough-edge whip- pans catch relationships in the house ending with the world.Although he does not step outside,Berger does very well at drawing a rough impression of the events taking place outside,,with the crackle of radio/phone calls and the odd front door visit hinting at the disaster unfolding just down the street.
Offering the perfect black Comedy backdrop with the apocalypse,the screenplay by Berger largely leaves comedic set-pieces for a dry,bitter wit being fed by the ripples of Emma and Peter's marriage problems. Casting everyone in the wacky shade,Berger gives each characters weird edges a delicious kooky warmth,which shines from Randolph being completely uncomfortable,to Hal's hilarious matter of fact warning. Joined by the off-beat delights from Kevin M. Brennan and Erinn Hayes,David Cross and Julia Stiles give great performances,thanks to Stiles giving Tracy a sharp shot of level- headed sass,whilst Cross raptures Glen with an unexpected dash of mad sincerity.
Final view on the film:
A movie that is far from disastrous.