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SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE ****
Summer is almost over but temperatures will continue to climb inside the sacred dark room. If you think you know everything about sex comedies, think again, because Leslye Headland’s refreshing take on the issues of sexual tabu is one of the year’s most original films. Following her small indie debut “Bachelorette”, Headland proves she’s totally comfortable in the comic terrain, conducting the narrative with extreme competence and balance, for both dirty and witty humor, and for the modern messages the film tries to make a point. Two long time friends, who once experienced a one-night-stand, reunite and develop a friendship trying to avoid sex and their mutual interest. Both of them are dealing with a serious problem: they just can’t stop screwing other folks, and when they decide opening up about their cheating issue, they are left alone by their respective partners. As they develop a tender and confidant relationship, they struggle to resist the temptations of the flesh, consulting their eccentric friends, and of course they’ll get themselves into embarrassing situations, creating an out-of-control heat-fueled fun ride. Instead of exploiting the material with pervasive contents, the director finds peace with her storytelling, preserving the uplifting humor, as she prefers to focus on the element revealed in all her characters: their fear of loneliness and the willingness for love. Actors Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie are side-splitting as the troubled pair trying to figure out how to settle and how to control their appetite. Don’t miss this awesomely hot comedy!
TIME OUT OF MIND ***
Far from the glamour of his most popular characters, Richard Gere, who’s celebrating his birthday this week, gives a tremendously subtle and enigmatic performance as a homeless man wandering the cold streets of New York. We learn of his condition as he’s being thrown out by a landlord. Carrying the effects of a miserable state of mind, emotional and financial disgrace, he’s unsure of himself but struggles to survive each night, inquiring help for his situation, seeking warmth in city shelters and trying to make amends with his estranged daughter, a barmaid (played by Jena Malone) who accuses him of never being supportive and would rather emotionally torture him than forgive. Things seem not to cooperate with the protagonist, but the virtues he finds in those crossing his path, mostly other homeless characters (including an unrecognizable Kyra Sedwick) and city officials, help him maintain the assurance of a next day. Director Oren Moverman observes every movement, breathing and traces of despair and anxiety expressed in Gere’s character, as he tries to manage survival and reconciliation with himself and his mysterious broken relationships. The film has a strong immediacy with the issues of failure and social abandonment as much as it is shocking. (IFC Films)
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