REVIEW: Drinking Buddies

6/10 - Everyone gets drunk. I bet you weren't expecting that. 

Previously I put this in my "Most Anticipated Movie Whatever" list meaning - I had high expectations.

I was wrong. It wasn't that great.

Ok, ok. There was some good direction, and some great actors, but at the end of the day it was boring!

I like a movie that focuses on the mundane, making natural dialogue a priority and telling more grounded stories of everyday people. From what I understand writer/director Joe Swanberg specializes in naturalistic improvisational style. I also have a huge appreciation for low-budget filmmaking. Drinking Buddies tries to pull on all those strings for me, but at the end of the day, it's a jump that doesn't quite stick the landing.

I got to know these characters, I became invested in their lives and wanted to know more. I thought it balked at the end and didn't get there for me. This wasn't unsatisfying, but just uninteresting. It develops beautifully but by the final act, it became a flat story. Maybe the stunted action was meant to be real, but there are ways to do that without making me want to fall asleep. For me it's an incomplete emotional story.

I think I need to dole out some compliments, so I will say that I think the acting was superb. I've always considered the sign of a good actor to be conveying a range of emotions without dialogue. Across the board, this is a talented group of people.

I also genuinely appreciate the journey that it tried to go on. Relationships are complicated, and exploring the evolving relationship of friends was very smart. This script taps into an experience that will relate to a lot of people. I think there are a lot of stories like this that haven't been told on screen.

Drinking Buddies is most memorable to me for having great potential. I don't see nearly enough drama's that are grounded, not high concept or melodramatic. I want more real humans in movies who say things like "I just got really nervous" or for the silence to say more than the people. I want stories about women, and stories about real life and not cliches. I want more movies like this. But better.

IMDB - Drinking Buddies (6.0)
Wikipedia - Drinking Buddies
Rotten Tomatoes - Drinking Buddies (69%)
Amazon.ca - Drinking Buddies