Review: The Perfect Guy

Tim here. I have a fun game: describe the plot of The Perfect Guy to somebody. Better yet, see how much of the plot they can guess just from the title: Leah (Sanaa Lathan) is dating this really swell guy Dave (Morris Chestnut), but he absolutely refuses to commit, so she dumps him. Mere seconds later, or so it seems, she's met-cute with an even sweller guy, Carter (Michael Ealy) one who's so handsome that the whole movie seems to melt whenever he flashes his smoldering eyes and quiet smile, and who impresses the ever-loving hell out of her friends and family without even the smallest effort. He is, you might go so far as to say, the Perfect Guy.

Ah, but he has a violent streak, and when he takes it out on some hapless shmuck in front of our heroine, she decides to get out while the getting's good. And this turns the Perfect Guy into a Perfect Psychopath, and there will be much anguish and suffering, and much brow-furrowing from the wise but helpless cop (Holt McCallany) who wishes that the system wasn't so rigged against women in trouble, but is personally powerless to do anything but suggest in elliptical terms how she can take the law into her own hands.

So far, so clichéd, but that's not the game.

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Let's Go Down The Rabbit Hole Again

Jason from MNPP here with the latest dispatch from Kidmanville (Nicoleopolis?) - the Aussie goddess is set for a Rabbit Hole reunion! No she's not playing Galactus in the next Fantastic Four movie (although do stop and imagine that for a hot second, by all means) -- she's re-teaming with director John Cameron Mitchell on his next project, an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's short story How To Talk To Girls At Parties (out of his 2006 collection Fragile Things). Which is maybe even better than the Galactus thing.

I won't wade into plot details because I hate having too much of that ruined for me beforehand; you can read that at the link if you like. But I will say it's a science-fiction love-story set in London in the 70s, and that also attached to the film (as if we need anybody else) are Elle Fanning & Alex Sharp.

"Alex who?," you ask? He was the lead actor in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, for which he snatched a Tony this year. He is quite good, they say!

Delighted to be teaming w/ John Cameron Mitchell on his glam-punk alien love story HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES 👽 pic.twitter.com/1ACyL6J9JA

— A24 (@A24) September 15, 2015

(Also of note: indie musicians Nico Muhly, Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu and Matmos are doing the music!)

The film will begin shooting in November and hopefully they'll shoot & edit & release it in time for this year's Oscars, so Nicole can pick up another statue of her own. She's totally overdue her second (and her third!) at this point, don't you think?

TIFF Actress-To-Watch: Ine Marie Wilmann in "Homesick"

Great moments in production design: In the first shot of Homesick, our heroine -- and I use the term ironically since she’s no role model -- is seen with her head cupped in her hands and thrown back to stretch / express annoyance. Beside her, out of focus in the psychiatrists office is a statue in roughly the same pose. There are other little touches like this that suggest that Charlotte ( Ine Marie Wilmann) is something of a mimic... and that director Anne Sewitsky (of Happy Happy fame) are really feeling this project. 

When Charlotte returns to proper posture we see an actress that looks suspiciously like Kate Hudson... or is it Malin Akermann? No, wait early Drew Barrymore? In a very happy stroke of casting luck, these unsought comparisons add extra resonance to the very thing the movie is going for. Charlotte, you see, really wants to be someone else... or at leave have their lives. Her parents paid her little attention and she's never even met her half brother. She's terribly lonely and latches on to everyone around her. This is most obvious in a beautifully dramatized friendship with a co-worker, that verges on symbiotic in a playful and tactile dance between them in the dance studio where they work.

But the crux of the drama of the picture is that Charlotte and her half brother do meet and go almost straight to the taboo rutting. Emotional calamities multiply all around them, as one would expect. 

Homesick feels a bit slight and sketchy despite its provocations, but Wilmann is terrific in the leading role. Her face is fluid with emotion, but more importantly it's as if she's continually scrolling and searching for the right one to express. She lets other people decide for her all too often. Hence her terrible decision making. B

Delicious Related News:

Wilmann won the Norwegian Best Actress Oscar (The Amanda) for her role in Homesick. And though the film itself was passed over as Norway's official Oscar submission this year, Wilmann has an even better reward coming: she'll reunite with her current director to play the legendary Norwegian gold medalist figure skater turned Hollywood novelty actress Sonja Henje who became one of the richest women in the world by the 1940s. Wilmann has already logged a lot of time at the ice rink in preparation. Naturally the movie will include other Old Hollywood characters and an international cast. It sounds like a superb idea for a motion picture so best of luck to all. 

In praise of Wiigs

Manuel here asking: when did Kristen Wiig become the reigning queen of indie cinema especializing in fascinatingly messed up women? 

Left to Right: A Deadly Adoption, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Welcome to Me, Nasty Baby (front), Skeleton Twins, Girl Most Likely

I just watched Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sundance review) and while the film is clearly a showcase for newcomer Bel Powley, I couldn't shake off the former SNL funny gal's Charlotte. And that got me thinking about Wiig's amazing recent roster of fascinating female characters, some of which deserved better vehicles (coughGirl Most Likelycough). She really was never going to rest on her comedic laurels, was she? 

In other Wiig news, her other Sundance flick, Nasty Baby (read Nathaniel's review) now has a trailer and a release date (Oct 23). I'd embed it on here except all trace of it has apparently disappeared from YouTube and thus from all other outlets which posted it (guess they want to keep the film a secret?). But you can still watch it here.

BYOYNMS in the comments and tell me: Which indie drama Wiig is your favorite?

Curio: Lucy Liu, Artist

Alexa here with your weekly art break. Lucy Liu made the surprise announcement recently that she'd had a baby boy via surrogate, congrats to her!  In following some links I was also surprised to see that she'd launched a website dedicated to her art, under her own name.

As we've posted before, Lucy had been making paintings under the pseudonym Yu Ling, but now she is ready to unveil new, varied works without the pseudonym.  Her use of media has expanded from painting to screenprint, sculpture, and fiber. 

More pieces after the jump...

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