LAFF 2013: FOREV

A scene from Forev.

Too early to be securely

By Don Simpson

Sophia (Noël Wells) is the type of girl who drunkenly brings random guys home to her apartment with the naïve hope that it will be the beginning of a beautiful long-term relationship. Her neighbor, Pete (Matt Mider), is a socially awkward computer support technician who works from home, therefore he rarely leaves his apartment. Hence he is hopelessly single.

Nonetheless, Sophia and Pete spontaneously find themselves engaged to be married. (Nope, she isn’t even preggers!) They go on a road trip across the Southwest to pick up Pete’s sister (Amanda Bauer) from college. Mayhem ensues, as the trip puts their (non-)relationship to the test.

Forev is a somewhat typical, yet smartly written, rom-com that quickly evolves into a quirky road movie which contemplates the meaning and significance of marriage in our modern world and whether or not dating (or sex, for that matter) should be a required precursor. Not all that long ago, Sophia and Pete’s rapid-fire engagement would not be all that surprising. Nowadays, they seem a bit nuts; yet within the cinematic universe of Forev, Sophia and Pete are given ample motivation to justify their sense of desperation.

At Sophia and Pete’s age, everything seems like an eternity. They are stuck in a purgatory between college graduation and settling down into family life, and they are both growing increasingly impatient with the pace of their lives. They have been waiting forever (in the figurative sense) to take the next step in life — in this case, marriage — yet it never comes. Of course, if and when they do get married, that means being with their significant other forever -- if they take their vows seriously. That is a lot of forever for two people in their 20s.


Forev screens at the Los Angeles Film Festival, tonight, 9:50 p.m., Regal Cinemas. For more information: Forev at LAFF 2013.

SF INDIEFEST 2013: SIGHTSEERS

Tina (Alice Lowe) in Sightseers.

Edgy comedy

By Don Simpson

Chris (Steve Oram) and Tina (Alice Lowe) have only been dating for a few months when Chris suggests that they drive across the rolling countryside of Britain for a week-long vacation. Chris wants to show Tina his “world,” which basically means taking her to various sites of historical significance that he holds dear to his heart. The trip will also whisk Tina away from her emotionally manipulative mother (Eileen Davies), who has kept Tina from doing much of anything with her life.

It is not long after they hitch up Chris’ Abbey Oxford Caravan and hit the road that their getaway takes on other connotations. It quickly becomes apparent that Chris has anger management issues, and Tina’s mental state is no less fragile. The claustrophobic space inside the caravan serves as a boiling pot for their emotions; either one of them can snap at any time.

Ben Wheatley’s Sightseershumorously observes masculine and feminine aggression, sticking with (and possibly satirizing) the gender stereotypes of men being overly-methodical and women being overly-emotional. Violence for each of the characters is triggered and unleashed much differently, and they both rationalize their violent acts in different ways as well. Whether it is purposeful or not, Wheatley’s film becomes an intriguing -- and comical -- social commentary on aggression; yet, simultaneously, the violence is totally rationalized by the characters’ irrationality. So by making the characters “crazy,” this differentiates them from “normal” society and fully explains their abnormal behavior. That, of course, also makes the violence much easier for us — the audience — to laugh at without any pesky moral dilemmas to burden us with guilt.

AUSTIN 2011: SOMEWHERE WEST

Ian (Barrett Ogden) in Somewhere West.

Death be proud

By Don Simpson

Ian (Barrett Ogden) has opted to forgo further treatment for a stage four brain tumor in his occipital lobe. Instead, he embarks upon a meandering cross-country journey in search of a solitary place to die. He does not get very far in his journey before he picks up another aimless wanderer, Ryan (Judson Webb). Ian is reluctant to take on a travel companion, but Ryan essentially offers him no other options. Then, before he knows it, a couple of other broken characters form a caravan with Ian and Ryan with the singular mission of helping Ian find peace and happiness in his final days.

You might say that Somewhere West is essentially about euthanasia in slow motion. Ian refuses to allow his doctors to force him to receive treatment for such a hopeless case because they would only be extending his pain and discomfort. He would prefer to live his dying days naturally, immersed in some of the most beautiful landscapes the United States has to offer, including: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, The Badlands, Black Hills, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, and Utah’s Salt Flats.

Somewhere West is writer-director David Marek’s Master of Fine Arts thesis project for the University of Colorado. I suspect that producing a film such as this one within the realm of academia is what permitted Malek the freedom to playfully experiment with the visuals of the film — doing so allows us to experience the world from Ian’s perspective. This technique lends Somewhere West a certain avant garde aesthetic along the lines of Gus Van Zant’s Gerry. And, from what I have read, Somewhere West originally clocked in at 134 minutes; but Marek has since whittled it down to a much more festival-friendly length of 103 minutes. At its current length, Somewhere West plays at a pensive and meditative pace (which may be way too slow for some viewers). I really cannot imagine how slowly the narrative would move if it were 31 minutes longer.