Movie Review

Seeing Other People

One of the beauties of independent films is the tiny budget, which means that the filmmakers can?t spend millions on cheesy special effects, nor on much of anything to begin with. Being abandoned in this realm of cinema usually leaves independent filmmakers in a very scary position (from a mainstream perspective), where few would want to drift: having to be creative.

These films aren?t about anything big and flashy, which means that our attention will be focused primarily on the acting and how well developed the story is. We will also have a chance to see how productive the filmmakers were with the limited resources available given their short funds.

In the film, Seeing Other People, we are shown our characters through a rather low-scale digital camera, and the film is mostly quiet in nature (in sync with the characters? lifestyles). Instead of visual eye candy being tossed at us, we are presented with a script involving intelligent people whom we can relate to, supported by an ensemble of actors who know their characters very well.

Seeing Other People is the story of Ed (Jay Mohr) and Alice (Julianne Nicholson), a couple who are soon-to-be married. Two months before the wedding, Alice begins to feel insecure since she?s solely tied to Ed in her sex life, and feels she is missing out in that department. Alice thinks that they should each go off and see what it is like to be with someone else (and experiment, sexually), all while continuing their relationship, hopefully improving their own sex life with each other in the process. At first skeptical, Ed agrees to do it, which leads to a string of flings for both to see the potential changes.

Though the story is nothing out of the ordinary, the end result is an entertaining, sometimes funny screwball comedy. What makes the film work most of all are the performances, as Mohr and Nicholson give very sincere, honest deliveries, with Nicholson as the standout. Also featuring Josh Charles (as Lou) and Andy Richter (as Carl), who play Ed?s buddies, the story nicely balances between the relationships that Ed and Alice try to establish, as well as the love lives of Lou and Carl. This movie would probably start dragging in pace (and become redundant) without these extra components, as these subplots supply some good moments of comedy, as well as some endearing scenes.

Seeing Other People never reaches the heights of a similar marriage-related film, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (B+), as this doesn't have anything significant to express about its subject matter, and doesn?t deliver such an intriguing social commentary. On the other hand, what this version doesn?t do is totally rip it off, as while the story might be an homage, writers Wallace Wolodarsky and Maya Farbes insert their own details, setting both pictures apart.

The one problem with a film like this is the marketing aspect, as with rather lightweight names attached and a director (Wolodarsky) nobody has heard of, it would probably require some heavy-duty attention on the critic?s front to propel this to a good audience. I?m not entirely certain this romantic comedy will find a decent-sized crowd in the art houses, but it deserves to; however, those who do discover it will find a smartly written, though predictable, enjoyable movie.

Lee's Grade: B-
Ranked #40 of 120 between Garden State (#39) and Shrek 2 (#41) for 2004 movies.

A	0.4%
B	30.0%
C	61.7%
D	8.0%
F	0.0%