One night and so many events! The creative parent of Here and Now is Henry Pincus. He directed it and wrote a script for it. In addition, “Here and Now” was for him the first and so far the last feature-length film that reached us. Looking ahead, I will say that this debut of his does not seem to be a failure, there were even much worse pictures for the target audience for young people, where sex, love, friendship and freedom were not offered in such a developed form as Henry Pincus, and fantasies were enough only for the first two plot components, that is, they got to sex and love, but Henry Pincus went further, for which he was grateful.
“Here and Now” stands out from a host of similar genre paintings due to the not quite frequent approach to the manner of transmitting information. Henry Pincus invites us, as viewers, to follow the sequence of events that occurred one night during and just after the disco. The film is based on monologues and dialogue. For example, at first Ryan (Patrick Fluger) wakes up in the same bed with Apple (Katie Cassidy), the best friend of his beloved Cassie (Lauren German), although she does not reciprocate him, in addition, the day before the party Cassie noticeably cooled to Ryan even as a friend. In a panic, Ryan runs and calls his friend Mick (Adam Campbell) and begins to tell him about the events that led to the delicate situation. Mick calmly listens, and then the next witness to the circumstances in which Ryan and Apple were together turns to him. So this is how, from all the stories, you get a clear picture of what happened. We can say that this is a mosaic film, a quest film.
Due to the fact that the action does not stop, and the monologues are visually displayed by filmed scenes with what is happening, it is quite curious to follow the vicissitudes. The most interesting of all is that when the film is already viewed and you think about what you saw, you definitely understand that the whole plot is archaic for the genre of youth comedy / melodrama. But again, Henry Pincus was able to find an approach that is intriguing. When you watch Here and Now, you see yourself as an invisible witness who condescendingly looks at naive young people who seem to be in a desperate situation. In this case, you understand Mick, who succinctly asks his friends, and then unpretentiously debunks all the idle speculations with which the characters “twisted themselves”. You can even feel yourself as a detective, but no one is killed, no one is robbed, only the logic of the actions of young people will lead to an obvious answer. Something in the manner of Veronica Mars can be felt with the painting “Here and Now”.
And I would like to mention all the young actors who took part in this short (only one hour fourteen minutes of its timing) film. Each of them correctly played his character, with individual characteristics, not everything was piled into one pile, where at the top there is a desire to sleep with someone, as if everyone is concerned, but Here and Now does not look like such because of good acting performance. To be honest, Mick, played by Adam Campbell, was the most peaceful of all. His ability to famously turn out of any situation said that the guy has a great future, and if you think about the fictional character, then he was played naturally. Katie Cassidy, Patrick Fluger, Lauren German, Chris Lowell and Bijou Phillips also demonstrated their heroes at the level and even among them you can recognize yourself if the discos did not pass or do not pass by. And Michael Bean was the guest. The same Michael Bean, who became the screen father of John Connor himself, who bravely fought with all sorts of Terminators there. He is the only one who was from the older generation, and his character added to the development of the whole story, and then dotted the “I” with his name. In general, a great team was selected for “Here and Now”.
It ends with the beginning of a new party and what it will bring events and situations no one can guess, but if everything will be as fun as the previous one, you want to visit this company. If you have some free time, then you can devote it to watching “Here and Now”.
7 out of 10