Family run. Well, almost. Let me tell you honestly what it looks like from the outside: two actors played a lot, saved up money and decided to make a movie on their own script, taking on the main roles. Is that really true? I guess. Was the game worth the candle? Let's take a look.
Let's start with the plot. Joe and Sally invite friends to their Anniversary Party. The following shots come: a neighbor with his wife, who hates the dog of the spouses Terrian and even records her barking on film, then to present material evidence; hysterical Claire, obsessed with her child and from time to time starts yelling worse than Khovansky; young actress Skye - she will play the role of Sally in the film by Joe, and the wife of the writer dislikes her, considering her a talentless fool; Gina is a photographer, an old friend of Joe, who suffers from a lack of sex and therefore reduces all conversations to him. There is no point in continuing – it is clear what kind of company it is. Everyone gives the couple idiotic gifts, but the palm goes to Skye - she gives the Terrians a box of ecstasy. Everyone throws free wheels, and then their true faces appear, although, in my opinion, everything is clear without ecstasy.
The filming took only 19 days - the actors involved in the film had a very tight schedule. Hence the decision to use a digital camera. Cumming even found certain advantages in this: the video turned out, in his opinion, more homely, everyday. Since all the actors knew each other, the atmosphere was quite friendly (which clearly distinguishes reality from the script). Relaxation, improvisation - all inclusive.
In general, critics have been favorable to the Duo Cumming-Lee’s debut as directors/writers/actors. They praised the intimacy, the illusion of complete spontaneity of dialogue, a touch of voyeurism, and most importantly, a satirical view of the eternal problem: the need to adhere to stupid rules of decency, according to which, for example, you must necessarily invite your neighbors to a party, even if you hate them, and this is mutual.
I do not dispute that for Hollywood it was fresh and relevant and even caused a few similar themes. But I caught myself thinking that I don’t care who the Hollywood stars are visiting, what they’re talking about at the table (and I guessed it wasn’t about finding alternative theories of gravity) and what they’re doing (strangely, not with cocaine; ecstasy is so plebeian-little bourgeois). With all this, you can praise Cumming and Lee at least for what they could write, for example, a love story of a vampire and a werewolf or something even more nauseating, and instead created a relatively watchable thing. With a caveat: if you had a really boring evening.
In short: a strong middle peasant - you should not look for special depth, but you can not call a superficial film either.