Hello everyone! I took a few days of blogging break as I just really needed it after the hectic TCFF schedule. Nice to get an extra hour of sleep as Daylight Savings ended last night. So I’m back with a couple indie film reviews I saw at the fest. As for the studio releases, I’ll be posting my reviews of those closer to the Minneapolis release date, so stay tuned for my thoughts on The Holdovers later next week!

Loren & Rose

The appetizer is an introduction, the dessert is a farewell in this story of an indelible bond forged between a promising young filmmaker and an iconic actress.

I have to admit that the biggest selling point of this movie for me is Jacqueline Bisset, an international film star who’s been acting for nearly six decades. With over 100 projects on her IMDb credits, it’s fitting that she plays an iconic actress Rose who forges a bond with a promising young filmmaker Loren (Kelly Blatz) when he cast her in his feature directorial debut.

Most of the scenes are shot in a classy California restaurant that Rose frequented, which reminds me of My Dinner With Andre given the two leads converse over various meals served by the restaurant owner and Rose’s personal friend Phil (Paul Sand) who always welcomes her warmly.

The film is broken down into three chapters: Appetizer, Main Course, and Dessert. Set over the course of a few years, the film pretty much begins when Loren first meets Rose to discuss his first film, to a couple of years later when circumstances have changed quite a bit for the two of them.

I have to admit the movie took a bit of time to get going. Loren narrates the opening scene of people setting up an action of Rose’s memorabilia which feels a bit clunky. I don’t know if the scene is meant to look amateurish, but it has a home-video vibe to it. Thankfully the cinematography gets better once the two leads meet up at the restaurant.

Films that are shot pretty much in one location with deliberate pacing aren’t for everyone. Barely anything happens here, but I was quite fascinated by their conversation, as Rose happily shared about her illustrious career and varied life experiences. She’s flattered that Loren has seen many of her more obscure work, but she too is impressed by Loren’s talent as a filmmaker. At times Rose acts like a mentor to him, who shares his own anxiety about graduating into feature films after winning awards for his latest short.

I think the key for a two-hander piece to work is the chemistry between the two leads. While Blatz is not the most charismatic actor, he’s able to hold his own to Bisset and their bond feels authentic. Ultimately it’s Bisset who carries the film, especially with her emotional performance in the third act. At nearly 80, she’s still as stunning as ever with such an elegant and commanding screen presence. It’s possible the role was written specifically for Bisset by writer/director Russell Brown as the script feels like an homage to her while also highlighting Brown’s penchant for cinema history.

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A View of the World from Fifth Avenue

A young woman risks being ostracized from an insular New York clique led by her socialite best friend when she falls for a charming photographer.

When I first read this film title, it immediately conjured up images of fashion or the fashionable people of NYC’s Fifth Avenue. Well, the movie doesn’t actually have anything to do with haute couture but the affluent group of people it centers on are certainly into high fashion, the high life, and not much else.

Fiona Robert directed and co-wrote the script with her sister Sophia Robert (they have collaborated before on The Country Club) and both also starred in the movie. Fiona plays the protagonist, Annabel, while Sophia plays Virginia, one of Annabel’s socialite friends she hangs out with exclusively. The movie opens on New Year’s Eve where Annabel’s insular clique encounters a talented photographer Theo (Paul Karmiryan) who isn’t a member of Manhattan’s high society. One of Annabel’s friends who happens to be familiar with his photography exhibit invites him to their party, despite the group’s not-so-subtle disapproval.

(I couldn’t find ANY still of this movie, but above is Fiona + Sophia Robert in The Country Club)

The movie starts out pretty slow as it explores the dynamics of the upper class within a small group of friends who are only interested in themselves and not much else. But even that, their relationship with each other seems rather shallow and surface level, but that could be because none of them really have any ‘real world problems’ that someone like me could relate to. As they live in one of the art/cultural Mecca of the world, they have the privilege to take part in so many events to broaden their horizon, but they’re grossly ignorant of any ideas outside of their socioeconomic status.

As I’m watching how Annabel converses with her friends, I thought the movie should’ve been called ‘People Like Us’ instead. I know there’s already a movie called that released in 2012 but that would’ve been a far more fitting title that exactly described the group. The tentative romance between Annabel and Theo lacks some serious sparks even despite Karmiryan’s good looks and charisma. I feel that it could’ve been developed better as it plays such an important role in Annabel’s gradual shift in her way of thinking.

I think tackling the idea of classism, generational wealth, and economic inequality set in a circle of Gen Z is an interesting idea for a movie, though I wish the movie had been more engaging. The performances are a bit uneven, and I find it hard to sympathize with any of the characters. That said, I think the Robert sisters are quite talented and it’s cool to see a filmmaking sister duo. The film is beautifully shot in various parts of Manhattan, there’s even an amusing cameo of Whit Tillman who often set his films in NYC, including Metropolitan which also centers on young upper-class Manhattanites.

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What do you think about either one of these movies?

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