Drinking Buddies

“Drinking Buddies” is a minimalist romantic comedy made perfect by Olivia Wilde’s charming performance.

If the term “mumblecore” has lost whatever initial meaning it had, it now simply refers to a minimalist style. Joe Swanberg, one of the pioneers of the filmmaking movement, has with his latest film given way to name actors while still trimming the fat of Hollywood rom-coms. “Drinking Buddies” is edited with the crackling urgency of something in the French New Wave while retaining the charm and warmth that will make it a hipster classic.

Olivia Wilde has acquiesced perfectly into the indie scene as Kate, a communications lead at Chicago’s Revolution Brewing. She has a more-than-just-friends relationship with Luke (Jake Johnson), one of the brewers, and they’re perfect together. Yet the practical impasse to their being together is a pair of serious relationships that are healthy, but not nearly as picturesque.

Each of them bring their respective significant others to a cabin in Michigan, and the already obvious attains some added sexual tension. Chris (Ron Livingston) is a bit older and more mature than Kate, and Jill (Anna Kendrick) is dorky and cute, but not always in the cool way, and she doesn’t gel with Luke nearly as well. Continue reading “Drinking Buddies”

Safety Not Guaranteed

“WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED.”

This real-life classified ad is the setup to the indie comedy “Safety Not Guaranteed,” but the important part is, “This is not a joke.”

The three magazine journalists who decide to report on the man behind this ad aren’t necessarily joking either, but they don’t entirely believe it, and that’s where the movie gets us. Derek Connolly’s screenplay in Colin Trevorrow’s film plays with our expectations by setting up a scenario that can’t and probably shouldn’t be true, and yet one that we kind of root for. Continue reading “Safety Not Guaranteed”