-By Michael Rechtshaffen
For movie details, please click here.
One doesn't usually associate the words "tender" and "affecting"
with the topic of phone sex, but such is the case with
Easier
with Practice, an unexpectedly stirring first feature by Kyle
Patrick Alvarez about the challenges of making human connections in
the weird and wired 21st century.
Winner of the CineVegas Grand Jury Prize, the beautifully acted
serio-comedy takes a potentially smirky premise—a chance dirty
phone call between an introverted writer and a persuasive mystery
woman becomes a meaningful long-distance relationship—and turns it
into something that really reaches out and touches you. It’s
graphic mainly in terms of language, and deserves special
handling.
Originally taking the form of an autobiographical 2006 GQ article
by Davy Rothbart, the neatly expanded feature centers on a road
trip taken by the withdrawn Davy (an intensely vulnerable Brian
Geraghty) to promote his as-yet-unpublished novel. Accompanied by
his decidedly more forward, younger brother, Sean (Kel O'Neill),
Davy's uneventful tour of dusty bookstores and college campuses
takes a surprising turn the night he answers a ringing phone in a
fleabag motel and "meets" Nicole.
Initial distrust of the sexy voice on the other end inevitably
turns to lust and then, curiously, into an odd emotional bond that
serves to drive a wedge in the already-strained relationship
between the brothers.
Avoiding any predictable broad strokes, director-writer Alvarez and
his rooted cast (also notably including Marguerite Moreau as an
ex-girlfriend of Davy's whose desire to rekindle their brief
relationship ends in humiliation) instead delineate some of the
finer truths regarding love, sex and loneliness.
Completing that understated, solitary vibe is the eloquent
stillness of cinematographer David Morrison's compositions,
digitally shot on the RED One Camera System.
-
The Hollywood Reporter
Film Review: Easier with Practice
A disarmingly poignant take on contemporary relationships.
Feb 25, 2010
-By Michael Rechtshaffen
For movie details, please click here.
One doesn't usually associate the words "tender" and "affecting" with the topic of phone sex, but such is the case with
Easier with Practice, an unexpectedly stirring first feature by Kyle Patrick Alvarez about the challenges of making human connections in the weird and wired 21st century.
Winner of the CineVegas Grand Jury Prize, the beautifully acted serio-comedy takes a potentially smirky premise—a chance dirty phone call between an introverted writer and a persuasive mystery woman becomes a meaningful long-distance relationship—and turns it into something that really reaches out and touches you. It’s graphic mainly in terms of language, and deserves special handling.
Originally taking the form of an autobiographical 2006 GQ article by Davy Rothbart, the neatly expanded feature centers on a road trip taken by the withdrawn Davy (an intensely vulnerable Brian Geraghty) to promote his as-yet-unpublished novel. Accompanied by his decidedly more forward, younger brother, Sean (Kel O'Neill), Davy's uneventful tour of dusty bookstores and college campuses takes a surprising turn the night he answers a ringing phone in a fleabag motel and "meets" Nicole.
Initial distrust of the sexy voice on the other end inevitably turns to lust and then, curiously, into an odd emotional bond that serves to drive a wedge in the already-strained relationship between the brothers.
Avoiding any predictable broad strokes, director-writer Alvarez and his rooted cast (also notably including Marguerite Moreau as an ex-girlfriend of Davy's whose desire to rekindle their brief relationship ends in humiliation) instead delineate some of the finer truths regarding love, sex and loneliness.
Completing that understated, solitary vibe is the eloquent stillness of cinematographer David Morrison's compositions, digitally shot on the RED One Camera System.
-
The Hollywood Reporter
