LOL (***)
review by Jon
Waterman
Tim and Ada have been dating for a little while, but Ada is
growing tired thanks to Tim’s work load. Then add on
that Tim’s friend Chris is visiting from New York for
an extended period of time. But Chris has his own girlfriend
problems thanks to this new found long distance. Now he’s
fighting with Greta much more he ever imagined he would. Meanwhile
Tim’s other buddy Alex is working on furthering his music
career while exploring a couple different avenues for potential
girlfriends. One is within is reach in his hometown Chicago
and the other is down in St Louis and he’s only corresponded
with her through her adult website. Life can be complicated,
but if you can’t laugh (out loud) at yourself, then what’s
the point?
Just like Joe Swanberg’s previous film “Kissing
on the Mouth,” a brief synopsis doesn’t do it justice,
as the movie is really about an underlying concept. “LOL” is
shot in a similar style, meaning they take the concept and
improvise scenes, shot in virtual consecutive order. There
is no script, no real planned plot points. The story develops
as its shot and edited, until it takes on a life of its own
and reaches its natural conclusion. This film has a more coherent
storyline and builds a nice arc for itself within the three
young twenty-something guys’ lives. However, the overall
concept is relatively basic and isn’t fleshed out in
quite the way I think it probably could have been.
The film has quite a few good moments where they honestly
explore the growing complexity of human interactions thanks
to the overabundance of technological communication. Emails,
cell phones, cameras, computers, music machines, and instant
messaging all play a role. But I don’t think they become
a character. The movie does little to take the discussion to
a different level or really enhance what understanding we already
have about how these devices are affecting our relationships
with people. That might not have been the goal. Either way,
because it didn’t really present something I wasn’t
already tacitly aware of, the end product was a little less
satisfying. I will say, however, that the acting through facial
expressions during the scene where Tim and his roommate IM
each other with Ada on the couch is perfectly tragically comic.
A very touching moment.
And there are a few touching moments in the film as well as
some decent comedic ones. “LOL” does well to represent
some of the daily troubles that people of this generation are
going through. It’s a wonderful portrait of that. It
should be watched for that reason. It’s also worth seeing
the refreshing filmmaking style that Joe Swanberg very effectively
gives us. My only real beef is that I thought it had less substance
than his previous film. I still can’t wait to see what
he does next.
Note: I am friends with the filmmaker/star. In fact
it was Joe who started this very site you’re reading and brought
me in on the ground floor. I mention this in the interest
of full disclosure, but I still stand by all the above comments.
If his film sucked, I would have stated so, or probably just
ignored reviewing it for the site. I don’t get paid
for my work here, so I have nothing to really gain by inflating
a score or his ego. The filmmaker’s best critics are
his/her friends, so my judgments on the movie are sincere
and meant with the best of intentions.
respond to jon@filmbrats.com
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