New rom-com royalty: Miles Teller & Analeigh Tipton in Max Nichols' TWO NIGHT STAND

Regenerative as all hell, that's the rom-com for you. After making a surprise comeback via last month's oddball The One I Love, here it is again in an utterly beguiling delight that makes you feel as if the genre were brand new. TWO NIGHT STAND is the work of first-time, full-length director Max Nichols (who I'm told is the son of Mike), from a screenplay by first-time screenwriter Mark Hammer. The two have struck movie gold. This is as much due to Hammer's clever writing and Nichols' deft direction (the apple has not fallen far, it seems) as to the two actors cast in the leading roles: Miles Teller (of The Spectacular Now) and Analeigh Tipton (of Damsels in Distress). It is difficult to imagine two performers with better chemistry, charm and smarts to bring these roles to life.

Mr. Nichols, shown at left, has kept this sweet and funny tale of a one-night-stand, set up via Internet, rolling along with almost indecent speed and grace. It all feels very au courant, as well, dealing with the mores of today's dating crowd -- hook-ups, easy fucks and condoms at the ever-ready. For his part, Mr. Hammer sees to it that the dialog does not simply sparkle, it's also quite in-your-face funny and real. It doesn't mince. (The movie's R-rated, though I think it's a shame that middle teens can't see it.) The two actors are able to handle that dialog with ease, while moving from anger to humor and back again (often both simultane-ously), while making inter-mediate stops, too.

There is no young actor currently working who comes close to filling Mr. Teller's shoes. This guy, above, right, and below, is really special: beefy rather than buffed  but so comfortable with his body and brain that he comes across as utterly natural and very sexy, to boot. Every moment and movement seems effortless, but then, suddenly, when effort is called for, Teller rises mightily to the occasion.

Ms Tipton, below, bounces off Teller's disposition with remarkable agility. She's cute and sexy in her own way, but her character is needier (or so it initially seems) and not nearly as secure in herself. Yet the rapport the two eventually reach is so real and earned that it keeps the audience at one with the pair every step of their journey.

The relatively simple story involves a hook-up that, due to very inclement weather, must go on, and far beyond the "thanks for the nice night" note that the Tipton character plans to leave behind. That's basically it -- for the first two-thirds of the film.

In fact, the movie seems like it might simply play as a two-hander exercise, once the characters have met -- which we wouldn't mind, given the talent of this twosome. But Hammer has a surprise or two up his screenplay's sleeve and so there's more.

Fortunately, and again, thanks to the actors involved, the movie does not degenerate. Instead it plays out to become a genuine and quite lovely rom-com -- with all that this genre requires.

In the good supporting case are Jessica Szohr (above, left) as Tipton's roommate/friend, Scott Mescudi (above, right) as their other friend, and Leven Rambin (below, right) as a special someone. I don't want to overpraise what is simply a very fine example of a popular genre movie. So just go, relax, laugh and enjoy.

Two Night Stand -- from Entertainment One and running a sleek 86 minutes -- opens this Friday, September 26, theatrically in a limited release and then hits VOD the following Friday, October 3. At which theaters in which cities? Don't know, and the film's web site page has yet to give us any of this info. Keep clicking here in the days or hours to come, and perhaps it will let us know. And even if we don't find the theater listing, we all know how to access VOD, right?

CYRUS: The Duplass brothers hit a home run with the help of a first-rate cast

We can make fun of Ridley Scott for Robin Hood and/or A Good Year -- and his brother Tony for, well, take your pick – but we owe these two a debt of gratitude for executive-producing the year’s most charming film so far, one that gives the heretofore mumble-
core Duplass brothers their first crack at going mainstream. And? Whoosh – they’re there in one fell swoop. CYRUS, the new R-rated rom-com that comes by its rating simply by being real and funny in an adult manner, is a treasure that makes plain how talented are Mark (below, right) and Jay Duplass (below, left). Up to now, writing and or directing and/or sometimes acting (often in the mumblecore of others) -- low-unto-no-budget movies like The Puffy Chair, Hannah Takes the Stairs, Baghead, Humpday -- these two have proven themselves worth watching, if not jumping up and down about. Start jumping.

What makes Cyrus so special is chemistry. We all know about chemistry between actors, but how often do we realize that chemistry between characters is just as important. The Duplasses have managed to nail both of these just about perfectly. The big difference here is that, for the first time, the bros are working with top-notch actors rather than the often unpaid intern-types that their low/no budget movies have generally dictated. Don’t get me wrong: I like Greta Gerwig, too, and a few of the other actors in the Duplass oeuvre. But in Cyrus, the brothers have the use of some “greats”: John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener and Jonah Hill (the latter may not be great, but if his career keeps on-track, he may yet be).

These four (above, left to right: Tomei, Hill, Reilly and Keener) have true charisma; their work looks effortless. More important, they’ve got that chemistry. Each one’s role suits him/her to a tee, and they bounce off each other with such charm, humor, feeling, intelligence and – when the moment call for it – anger that we are hooked from scene one. And the movie just gets better from that point on. Reilly, after his terrific work in so many films, hits some kind of stride here. (See him in the under-appreciated Cirque du Freak: the Vampire’s Assistant, which proves, as does Cyrus, that this guy can play the hero and romantic lead with the best of them).  Tomei matches him moment for moment. She simply grows more gorgeous and supple, mature and desirable as she ages, and here, in the role of a mother and a lover, she excels. Hill could not be better cast, and as he (with the help of his writers/directors) allows his role to grow and deepen, he keeps surprising us. Keener and Matt Walsh have lesser roles but fill them to the brim.

The brothers adhere pretty much to their homemade look; the film clearly has a higher budget but still bears an appealing, off-the-cuff quality. My only quibble with their "technique" is the use of a sud-
den little jolt when the camera seems to "zoom in" slightly in a way that calls needless attention to itself.  In only one out of maybe half-a-dozen uses does it seem legitimate. But this is quibbling.

Cyrus brushes against darkness without slipping over into it. This will be a problem for some critics and viewers who demand the dark side. The Duplasses and their fine actors want to make us under-
stand that, regarding relationships, once we find one that has pos-
sibilities -- as the one in this film definitely does -- we can counter the dark via the use of, primarily, whatever intelligence and ration-
ality are at our disposal.  And we have to keep on trying. Attempts – one after another – are vital, just as they are, once the relation-
ship matures. I don’t want to oversell Cyrus (what--I already have?), so I’ll just say that this movie makes me more interested than I have been so far to see whatever the Duplasses do next.

The film opens, via Fox Searchlight, in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, June 18.  For further playdates, click here.