By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Chris Messina
Starring: Chris Messina | Derek Luke | Don Johnson | Jennifer Jason Leigh | Katie Nehra | Mary Elisabeth Winstead | Matthew Del Negro | Skylar Gaertner
Country: united_states
Year: 2015
Running time: 86
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2977090/combined
Kyle says: “ALEX OF VENICE is a modest miniature about the emotional disruptions of marital break-up and the unexpected new details of daily life, a comedy of manners in which a comfortable lifestyle is a house of cards whose collapse must be prevented one card at a time. Problems range from steaks burned at a barbecue, to 10-year-old Dakota being left at school inadvertently, to unreliable family members being asked for help, to successful lawyer Alex (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) needing to focus all her attention on an important case and being unable to, as both she herself and her sister remind her she has only had sex with one man her entire life.
“Meanwhile Alex’s father Roger, played by Don Johnson, is a pot-smoking former TV star miscast as 87-year-old Firs in a local production of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard but unable to remember his lines because of incipient Alzheimer’s. Much of the film is unfortunately clumsy and unconvincing, such as Alex’s totally unprofessional sexual relationship with the developer she is
battling in court, and the limited amount of film time and energy she seems to focus on preparing for this case. Actor Chris Messina making his directorial debut will undoubtedly make better films in the future.
“For now the delicacy of Mary Elisabeth Winstead’s performance is a positive palliative to the bombast of most films about women in similarly difficult life transitions. And the beseeching but accusing stillness of Skylar Gaertner as the son in tumult over his parents’ separation is a vivid reminder that we not take for granted the acting of very young and clearly gifted artists. Don Johnson does well with his supporting role, saddled with appearing in possibly the worst production of a Chekhov play ever seen on film. 3 cats
“Seen Sunday, August 30, 2015, on Netflix, New York.”
Michael says: “I had forgotten that I had a little crush on Chris Messina, from his days on The Mindy Project with Beth Grant until his unexpected appearance in SHE DIES TOMORROW last year. When looking for a film to watch, I remembered that he had directed his first narrative a few years ago and decided to check it out. Alex is a hard-working lawyer who lives with her husband, six-year-old son, and aging father who is starting to have trouble remembering things. When her husband decides somewhat suddenly that the marriage isn’t working and leaves, partially due to her all-consuming job, her entire life is turned upside down. Enter her free-wheeling sister to help out