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?

Rom-com heaven: Joan Carr-Wiggin's IF I WERE YOU has heart, humor, intelligence, great acting -- and King Lear! Below: a Q&A

It's but a month (to the day!) since TM covered another very good romantic comedy, Shanghai Calling, mentioning in the process that if we got a better rom-com than this, we should consider ourselves blessed. Well, blessed we're about to be, thanks to this week's opening of IF I WERE YOU, starring Marcia Gay Harden and Leonor Watling, and directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin. Before we get into the specifics of this particular film, let's talk a bit about the rom-com genre. Romantic comedies needn't always be about how the hero or heroine wind up with each other. Some of the best of the bunch neatly subvert that outcome (My Best Friend's Wedding) or simply refuse, as does this one, to tie up loose ends.

A genuinely adult rom-com can make use of both romance and comedy in its quest to explore subjects such as the nature of our "love" relationships, the human penchant for denial, how friendship develops, the sometimes comic connection between death and sex, the workplace and more. Ms Carr-Wiggin (shown at left) manages all this and a good deal else. With the help of her two lead actresses and an excellent supporting cast, this burgeoning writer/director gives us a smart, expansive rom-com -- and a genuinely good time at the movies.

As usual, the less you know about the plot, the better off you are in terms of surprise and fun. But I will just mention that in its initial scene, the filmmaker's use of a very special chocolate dessert is a simply brilliant stroke: This dessert, her husband's favorite, is what brings his wife to a certain restaurant, and it is very probably what has brought him there, too, and why, as the waitress explains, "We just served the last one."

In one sweet moment or two, this chocolate confection simultaneously shows us the wife's kindness, her husbands' unkindness, and sets off a chain of events that ends up at a curtain call for what looks like a wonderfully new and thought-provoking performance of King Lear. Really: rom-coms rarely get such mileage out of one good gag, and Carr-Wiggin is especially clever at using circumstance and coincidence in a manner that delights us.

The filmmaker is also wonderfully generous to all her characters. Nobody is quite the villain you initially expect. Instead the catalog of human foibles is well arrayed and properly divided among these characters, with the actors playing each of them to a fare-thee-well. It's no secret what a great comedienne is Ms Harden, and here she's at the top of her game. "Watch her body language!" my companion whispered, as the amazingly funny opening scene expanded into further hilarity.

It's true. This actress -- who never has a dishonest moment, no matter how far out she goes -- lets the character and her comic instinct seep into every crevice of her body. She's amazing. When Ms Harden at last plays Lear (yes, she's the King), she is so good in the snippets we see that I can only hope some enterprising producer will let her tackle the entire play. (The movie's "take" on the tiny, barely extant theater company that is trying to do Shakespeare is warmly satiric and should prove nostalgic for those of us who've labored off-off-Broadway.)

As Harden's co-star, the Spanish actress Leonor Watling (at right) is ideal -- as warm and sunny as Harden is tight and closed (and hilarious). The two form a lovely team, it's easy to believe that these women might become fast friends (according to the filmmaker, in our Q&A below, they indeed bonded during the filming). Watling -- who has been hugely appealing in everything from Talk to Her to Unconscious, First Night of My Life to In the City and the more recent and brilliant Lecture 21 -- is one of the true lights of European cinema. I hope this film will at last bring her in closer range of American audiences.

Also in the cast are Aidan Quinn (above, finally appearing halfway through the film, but good enough to easily make up for lost time),

Valerie Mahaffey (above, center, as an un-wronged wife), Joseph Kell (above, left, as the offending hubby), and Gary Piquer (above, right, as a would-be paramour of the work-place). Everyone is terrific, but it's Harden who conquers. If small independent films ever received the kind of recognition that they ought, this performance would be a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

If I Were You, from Kino-Lorber and running 115 minutes, opens this Friday, March 15, at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan and the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills, as well as elsewhere around the country. Click here, then scroll down to see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.

**********

We spoke very briefly by phone with the filmmaker last week, and she proved as friendly and smart as we'd expected. In the short conversation below, TrustMovies' comments/questions are in boldface, with the responses of Joan Carr-Wiggin in standard type.

Would you call this a romantic comedy?  I would, but it’s one in which things like the use of coincidence work so much better than usual.

Well, yes, I would call it that, too, because it’s about relationships and it’s a comedy. What I love best are movies from the 30s and 40s. I always try to get a little into that genre.

I also loved that you did not tie everything up so neatly at the conclusion.

  

I didn’t see this as a who-do-you-end-up-with kind of thing. To me, the big question is: What play will they do next. (We both laugh.) Private Lives maybe?!

It turns out that the filmmaker and I share a habit:  We both watch a movie every evening with dinner, while our companions -- mine, and Joan's husband -- who are maybe not quite as fond of watching films as we, are nonetheless good sports and so agree to it.

My companion absolutely flipped for this film.  It made his day, if not his week.

I am so glad to hear that!  Do you guys always talk about movies? We do. I am always doing this. Just the other day we were in a cab, and the driver was from Israel, so of course we talked about The Band's Visit.

Ah, yes: We loved that film! Can I ask about the casting of Harden and Watling? 

I actually wrote the part with Leonor (above) in mind. I had seen and loved her work in her My Mother Likes Women, but I hadn’t realized at the time that she was in that Sarah Polley movie, My Life Without Me, which was also filmed in Canada.

Regarding the other role, I wanted to write a really difficult and challenging role for a woman, but then after I had written it, I had to wonder: Who would be willing to tackle a role like this? My casting director suggested Marcia Gay Harden and got the script to her. She read it -- and said yes the next day!

It was such a treat to have this actress on the set. Many of the our actors were stage actors, and were not used to making movies, and so Marcia so kindly and gracefully gave them all these suggestions -- about how to adjust more easily to the movie camera and all sorts of things. She was just wonderful.

And Watling was, too!  The poor girl did have some trouble with the cold weather -- a girl from Spain, after all, isn’t used to the cold climate of Canada. During the shoot she and Marcia became best friends, which is what happens in the movie, too, so I loved that!

Why did you pick King Lear as the play for which the auditions were being held?

I love the character of Lear and I always relate to Lear. It frustrates me to see that women, who are so fully rounded and have so much to offer, are still given such meager roles to play. It frustrates me to see that we’re only able to show such a small part of ourselves.... 

I am particularly pleased that you didn't feel you had to tidy up everything too neatly.

I really prefer not to. But for so many mainstream movies, maximizing revenue seems to be the only goal now. And of course, we want to pay back our investors. But we live in a society where only huge money is treated as important and I worry what this is saying to our young people and what they are learning from this. 

I wonder, too. People look at you like you're crazy, if money isn't the most important thing to you. 

The way you -- and Harden -- do King Lear -- or maybe Queen Lear -- really works, I think.  It made me want to see Harden do the role in the entire play.

Yes!

And we also loved the use of Watling’s little turn-and-smile-and-wink moment as a curtain call.

We loved that thing she does, and when we had them all up on stage, it just worked.  That was Leonor's last day when we shot that particular scene. And afterwards, Marcia said, "Can everybody stay behind, please?" And we did. And then everybody sang There's No Business Like Show Business, and it was just wonderful!  I so wanted to include this on the DVD when it comes out. 

Why don't you?!

We tried. But we couldn't afford the rights to the song.

Before I watched the film, I didn't look on the IMDB to see what else you'd done. Then afterward, I did -- and realized that you also made A Previous Engagement with Juliet Stevenson. I didn't care much for that film, and so I was glad I had not looked first at your resume. But that's terrible in a way, because it is so limiting!

Yes, but it's just human nature to do that: to judge by what else you have seen.

(The PR person comes on the line to tell us we have time for one more question.)

OK: Last question. What's next for you?

We're starting a movie this summer called Happily Ever After.  We're beginning the casting now. This, too, will be a form of romantic comedy about two girlhood friends who went away from each other but then get reacquainted in their mid-20s.

OK. We will look forward to seeing that one, Joan. And thank you so much for your time today -- and especially for this wonderful movie.

Rom-com heaven: Daniel Hsia's SHANGHAI CALLING gives immigration a good name

The year is young, but if any forth-coming romantic comedies outdo this week's opener, SHANGHAI CALLING, we should consider ourselves blessed. Not since the under-seen but wonderful Outsourced, have we had a rom-com that did so much so well, tackling everything from globalization and patent piracy to culture clash amd an ironic, inside-out look at immigration. It's also a feel-good film by virtue of the fact that you end up liking so many of its characters so very much. These are mostly gracious, decent, charming people with problems that can be solved rom-com style -- but well enough that, after watching the movie, you'll go to bed still smiling and wake up in the morning feeling not in the least ill-used.

The writer/director here -- Daniel Hsia (at left) -- is someone of whom I know little. His credits are more toward writing than directing (this is his first full-length film), but he has clearly been learning on the job. His movie is graceful, first moment to last, and filled with performan-ces that show either (maybe both) a knack for casting and the ability to get every actor on the same page in terms of tone and spirit. Hsia under-stands rom-com conventions, but he also knows how to up-end these when necessary so that, while his movie goes clickety-click toward a satisfy-ing resolution, he finds the occasional surprise to keep us alert and hungry for more.

The story concerns the American ex-pat community in Shanghai (known humorously as Americatown, the original title of the movie) to which comes a lanky, hunky high-level lawyer, oh-so-sure of himself and expecting to achieve partnership if he does his new job right. (Played by the very good-looking and talented  Daniel Henney, above, this role just might be a career-maker.)

The joke is that, though he looks Chinese, having been raised in America, he doesn't even speak the language. His pretty, young American relocation-specialist (a lovely, spunky Eliza Coupe, above) does, however, and she tries to help this cocky fellow out.

Also in the mix are our hero's patient, sweet secretary (played by Zhu Zhu above)...

the all-important client (Alan Ruck, above) whom our lawyer must serve...

a horny school-teaching member of the ex-pat community (Sean Gallagher, above, left) who discovers a knack for buying up electronic equipment...

a man of mystery named Awesome Wang (Geng Le, above) whom everyone recommends getting help from....

and, best of all, and old favorite of ours, Bill Paxton (above) as the current president of the ex-pat community.

These folk and more swirl around our hero, helping him do right and trying to hinder wrong (at which he seems particularly adept). Meantime, he discovers a knack for figuring out why the heroine's little daughter has taken to speaking only Chinese, among other new skills he begins to develop as he acclimates to this new environment. Along the way, we see the sights of Shanghai, which look pretty damned enticing, and the look the movie takes at the ex-pat community there seems relatively on the mark.

Hsia's screenplay is smart and witty, even occasionally moving, as the wheel of romance are greased and set in motion -- involving two different relationships. An especially sweet scene is the one between the boss, his secretary, her family and the young man who loves her. This is, in a word, "dear." Even the outtakes during the end credits are better than the usual (though probably not that necessary).

Shanghai Calling, apparently self-distributed and running 101 minutes, while continuing to screen in San Francisco (at The Presidio), opens this Friday in New York City (at the Quad Cinema) and in the Los Angeles area at Laemmle's Playhouse 7 and TCL's Chinese 6. To see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, simply click here.

Scheinmann bros' cutting-edge ensemble delight -- THE WEST WITTERING AFFAIR

A good friend of mine, who is also a psychotherapist, once told TrustMovies that any two people could form a successful relation-ship and/or marriage. There were only two necessities: They had to be mature (that is, autonomous) adults, and they had to want the relationship. Granted, that first necessity precludes at least three-quarters of the world's adult population but, still, this is a very interesting concept. It came to mind while TM and his companion were watching a British movie he had only just become aware of -- THE WEST WITTERING AFFAIR -- though it was actually made in 2006 but released solely (and all too briefly) in the U.K. at the end of that year.

The WWA, as I'll now refer to it, is a rom-com set partially in the titular tiny village, located in the West Sussex district of England. The movie features a quartet of smart performers. Later a younger, fifth wheel is added to the group, but for most of the movie it's this foursome that captivates and annoys us (most humorously). As rom-coms go, the movie is light years ahead of most, whether British, American or whatever country of origin. This is due to the diretor, a fellow named David Scheinmann (at left), an evidently well-known British photographer and music--video creator, here helming his first full-length film; to his splendid acting ensemble, who play together like the pros they are; and to the screenwriters (two of this ensemble: the director's brother, Danny Schneimann, and Sarah Sutcliffe).

The actors are all new to me and probably will be to you. All the better, then, to enjoy their novelty, ability and spontaneity. The movie begins by flashing forward and back in time, days and/or weeks before or after West Wittering, as the "event" has evidently come to be referred to. That event turns out to be kind of "date" arranged by one woman (Ms Stucliffe, below, left) to get to better know the young caterer, Jamie (played by Mr. Scheinmann, above) to whom she's become attracted. Another couple has been invited, but only one person, the female half (Rebecca Cardinale, below, right) shows up. Things go both badly and well, depending on how you view them -- which is pretty much true about everything that happens in this movie, consequently giving it such an interesting, "adult" edge.

The four characters, the last of whom is a therapist (played by David Annen, shown at right in the penultimate photo) involved with one of the women, are quite good at sizing up the other three. It's understanding themselves that gives them -- as it gives most of us -- such trouble, while peppering the movie with resonance and pizzazz. There's one other thing that distinguishes the film, but I hesitate to tell you what it is -- because, when I learn that a movie's been made in this manner, I tend to resist it from the outset. This is unfair, particulaly when a film works as well as does The WWA.  (You can learn what this "magical" ingredient is by watching the maybe 15-20 minute interview with the director that appears as a extra on the DVD. Scheinmann comes across as a very smart and intuitive guy, and what he has to say about his movie and how it was made is consistently interesting and vibrant. Listening to this interview (it's all audio, against a photo of the director) added immeasurably to my understanding and enjoyment of the film.)

I don't say this about very many movies, but The West Wittering Affair -- by tracking these characters as they attempt to create viable relationships -- flirts with profundity, even if it does not finally consummate it. But for a rom-com to make us laugh and entertain us so well, while locking us into its stories of these crazy but believable characters, and then make us consider seriously the ways in which our uses of sex and food and romance and loyalty conspire for and against us -- well, this is one hell of an achievement. Not to mention the smart, sharp style the director uses in his odd time shifts, his introduction of a men's sex therapy group, and finally the addition of that very important fifth character.

All of this brings up another interesting point: How did those guardians of our film culture let this movie slip past them?  While they were sleeping, another much less worthy filmmaker like Ben Wheatley got his two movies -- Kill List and Down Terrace -- praised to the skies. While these films are indeed "different," stylistically they both clunk and neither works that well in terms of simple credibility. Could it be that Wheatley's insistence on giving us the blood, gore, murder and mayhem that so many of us crave above all else, makes him a worthier object upon which to heap praise?  Just asking.

Meanwhile, track down The West Wittering Affair, watch it and weigh in. You can rent it, as did I, from Netflix (Blockbuster has it, too), or purchase or stream it from Amazon and elsewhere.
Whatever: See it.

On its own terms, perfectly fair ones, too, Tanya Wexler's HYSTERIA is pure delight

Those terms mentioned above? Well, HYSTERIA -- a Victorian era rom-com set in 1880 London -- is all about discovering the cure for those "hysterical" symptoms with which doctors diagnosed the women of the day. The movie is naughty, but not dirty; feminist (and funny rather than strident); and so progressive it'll have Republicans and fundamentalists churning their knickers into a double twist, double quick. These people had best stay home and pray -- to Ms Rand or their version of Jesus -- because the movie will knock their blocks out from under them, even as it has the rest of the audience leaving the theater on a sweet cloud of laughter and good will (toward men and, particularly, women). The film's distributor Sony Pictures Classics missed perhaps the greatest marketing opportunity of the year by not opening the movie last week -- as the perfect alternative entertainment for Mother's Day.

The first thing you may notice about Tanya Wexler's film (the director is shown at right) -- besides its very funny opening depicting Victorian upper class women of all types describing their "symptoms" -- is how interesting, how much fun are the various characters on view. There's Hugh Dancy's quixotic doctor, shown below, all forward thinking where medical science is concerned but something of a prude regarding a woman's place and conventional morality. When this very good doctor comes into the family fold and the hysteria-fueled medical practice of Jonathan Pryce, he meets the two women -- Pryce's daughters, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Felicity Jones -- who will concern him from then on: Ms Jones as his possible paramour, Ms Gyllenhaal as his combination goading savior and bête noire.

One of the things that makes Hysteria the delight that it is is Ms Wexler's skillful and easy approach to the material. Nothing here seems labored or pushed. The director may be be no great stylist, but neither is she that dreaded filmmaker who possess oodles of style, little idea of content, and not enough sense to differentiate or mesh. This lady is a direct director: She knows what to give us and how to do it sensibly, economically and entertainingly. She has a light touch, her movie moves fast and is lots of fun. And isn't that, moviegoers, more than half the battle?

I don't know what other reviews will be like, once the movie opens this Friday. But I hope they will be better than the dreck Anthony Lane is feeding us via this week's The New Yorker. "Sorry, Doc. She faked it."? (That's Lane last line.) Of course Lane is speaking metaphorically (I guess) because he clearly was paying no attention to the terrific and very funny actress who handles the "equestrian" climax. She is clearly doing anything but faking it. As for the film not paying attention to the needs of women -- hello, that's what the f-ing movie is all about, from needs sexual to intellectual. But because this is evidently not spelled out in capital letters, Mr. Lane has somehow missed it.

Another sign of Wexler's skill is how well her actors all mesh. Dancy is divine as the forward-thinking male who still has a few miles left to go; ditto Rupert Everett (above, right) as his wealthy friend, inventor and confidante, whose progressive parents foot the bill for much of his life and work. Pryce is fine in a less demanding role than he often has, but it's fun to see him doing comedy again.

Gyllenhaal (at right, above and below) is wonderful -- smart, fast and as appealing as she is strong -- while Jones has the less showy role and fills it with her beauty and, toward the conclusion, a nice sense of growth and change. Hysteria is a charming, progressive fairy tale that mixes love and politics, sex and science. Don't leave before the end credits are over, for Ms Wexler has a final funny and slowly evolving joke to tell us -- which she handles as smartly and frothily as the rest of her film.

Hysteria, from Sony Pictures Classics and just the right length (95 minutes), opens this Friday in New York City at Cinemas 1 2 3, the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the Sunshine Cinema; and in Los Angeles at The Landmark.  It'll be appearing elsewhere around the country soon, though as of today, I could find no link to playdates.

  Note: At the Sunshine Cinema (New York City),

director Tanya Wexler will appear in person on 

Saturday, May 19 for Q&As after 

the 5:05pm and 7:20pm shows.

All photos are from the film itself, with the exception of Ms Wexler's, 

which is by Larry Busacca and comes courtesy of Gettyimages.com