Olivia Wilde directs this funny yet heartbreaking film shot almost entirely inside one married couple’s apartment. Seth Rogan plays Joe, a burnt out musician turned teacher whose wife Angela (Olivia Wilde) drops having a dinner party with the upstairs neighbors on him the second he gets home. The upstairs neighbors, Pina (Penelope Cruz) and Hawk (Ed Norton), are the sexy seemingly happy couple who are everything that Angela and Joe are not. At least that is how Angela and Joe feel.
Angela practically works herself into an anxiety attack prepping dinner for the people who are always waking she and Joe up at night with their wild sex noise. Joe wants to bring this up but Angela is mortified at the idea. Pina and Hawk hear them arguing outside the door of their apartment when they arrive which sets an uncomfortable tone to the dinner party Joe really does not want to have.
Pina admits she doesn’t eat meat, cheese, or anything else that Angela spent all day preparing. Joe just wants to smoke pot and have it out about the loud sex noise. Angela wants their life to seem perfect even though it obviously isn’t. And Hawk is just there, smiling in a calming yet slightly ironic but not demeaning way. Eventually, Hawk and Angela realize they have similar interests, as to Pina and Joe. When Hawk and Pina admit they have sex parties in their apartment, Angela and Joe are suddenly very interested in them. While this doesn’t really work out because Angela and Joe are so very unhappy in their own marriage, it does make them realize that staying in their marriage for the sake of their twelve year old kid isn’t helping anyone. Only when Joe finally starts playing the piano he hasn’t played in years does the familiarity of what brought them together in the first place to Angela and Joe stop fighting.
What makes this film so wonderful is how the actors fully commit to being these characters. No line of dialogue is wasted. Every joke lands the way it is supposed to. Not once do any of these actors break character. Olivia Wilde in particular carries so much of the tension and anxiety that it is sometimes heartbreaking to watch. For a film that is all talking, never once was I bored. Not once did I question how much time was left. Not once was I ever bored.
Camera work is interesting too, adding to the intimacy of the scenes. The viewer feels like they are in the room with this group of people experiencing the tension between these neighbors that turns from awkward to sexual as the movie progresses. It allows you to get to know these people. To feel for them and laugh with them. Even when Angela pops a Xanax, it’s like you’re standing there with her helping her through her anxiety. Props to Olivia Wilde for managing this because this film could have been an absolute bore. And it’s anything but.
4 out of 5 stars.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
Olivia Wilde directs this funny yet heartbreaking film shot almost entirely inside one married couple’s apartment. Seth Rogan plays Joe, a burnt out musician turned teacher whose wife Angela (Olivia Wilde) drops having a dinner party with the upstairs neighbors on him the second he gets home. The upstairs neighbors, Pina (Penelope Cruz) and Hawk (Ed Norton), are the sexy seemingly happy couple who are everything that Angela and Joe are not. At least that is how Angela and Joe feel.
Angela practically works herself into an anxiety attack prepping dinner for the people who are always waking she and Joe up at night with their wild sex noise. Joe wants to bring this up but Angela is mortified at the idea. Pina and Hawk hear them arguing outside the door of their apartment when they arrive which sets an uncomfortable tone to the dinner party Joe really does not want to have.
Pina admits she doesn’t eat meat, cheese, or anything else that Angela spent all day preparing. Joe just wants to smoke pot and have it out about the loud sex noise. Angela wants their life to seem perfect even though it obviously isn’t. And Hawk is just there, smiling in a calming yet slightly ironic but not demeaning way. Eventually, Hawk and Angela realize they have similar interests, as to Pina and Joe. When Hawk and Pina admit they have sex parties in their apartment, Angela and Joe are suddenly very interested in them. While this doesn’t really work out because Angela and Joe are so very unhappy in their own marriage, it does make them realize that staying in their marriage for the sake of their twelve year old kid isn’t helping anyone. Only when Joe finally starts playing the piano he hasn’t played in years does the familiarity of what brought them together in the first place to Angela and Joe stop fighting.
What makes this film so wonderful is how the actors fully commit to being these characters. No line of dialogue is wasted. Every joke lands the way it is supposed to. Not once do any of these actors break character. Olivia Wilde in particular carries so much of the tension and anxiety that it is sometimes heartbreaking to watch. For a film that is all talking, never once was I bored. Not once did I question how much time was left. Not once was I ever bored.
Camera work is interesting too, adding to the intimacy of the scenes. The viewer feels like they are in the room with this group of people experiencing the tension between these neighbors that turns from awkward to sexual as the movie progresses. It allows you to get to know these people. To feel for them and laugh with them. Even when Angela pops a Xanax, it’s like you’re standing there with her helping her through her anxiety. Props to Olivia Wilde for managing this because this film could have been an absolute bore. And it’s anything but.
4 out of 5 stars.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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