A sweet comic romance.
People Places Things
Grade: A
Director: James C. Strouse (The Winning Season)
Screenplay: Strouse
Cast: Jermaine Clement (Flight of the Concords), Regina Hall (Vacation)
Rating: R
Runtime: 85 min.
by John DeSando
Having seen Mark Ruffalo take pieces of the scenery as a bipolar dad in Infinitely Polar Bear, I was happy to settle down with a slower, more-measured, drier dad with Jermaine Clement as Will Henry in the charming People Places Things. Both dads face fatherhood with good intentions and occasionally laughs, but it’s Will’s good will and unassuming persona that won my heart.
A recently-single graphic novelist, Will is not an aggressive dad, and yet, with the two sweetest cello playing twins (Aundrea and Gia Gadsby—watch for these two to become bigger than the Olsens- this side of Disneyland, it’s not difficult just to let them play at your heartstrings, as he does. His illustrating helps us get inside the head of this brainy introvert, who otherwise would be just a nice guy.
His ex, Charlie (Stephanie Allynne), is sweet and warm but has had enough of his passivity and is ready to wed bulbous Gary (Michael Chernus), who takes passive to a new level. Both men are starving artists while she is from a wealthy family, elements that give richness to what could have been a clichéd character.
In the Seinfeld tradition, nothing much happens, a sure sign that everything is happening. In this Sundance Grand- Jury-Prize-nominated film, Charlie is conflicted about Will just as Will connects with his student Kat’s (Jessica Williams) mom, Diane (Regina Hall), another warm character who makes you think about switching to writing comic books to get girls. To be fair to Will, he’s as charming as a nerd could be, well meaning, a great dad, and shyly clueless about the battle of the sexes.
That mild mannerism is what will attract a large audience of bachelor dads, who find the loneliness and challenge without a wife daunting to say the least. Being uncool, in other words, can get the girl and give us a most appealing romantic lead.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
