Just saw "Jeffie was Here"-- Though the film never strays from its primary genre as "road movie," it shifts from something that feels like a less irritating "curb your enthusiasm" into an honest to goodness intelligent romance. The skill and honesty with which the film "becomes" one from the other is what's makes Todd Edward's film interesting, and not merely good.
His handling of the main characters is equally engaging, and I'll say it again, interesting. His leading man, Alan, has some astonishingly dumb moments--like missing the fact his significant other is pregnant even after she's all but told him--and yet still have us believe he is a college professor and otherwise an intelligent fellow. Giving smart people dumb moments; though the mainstay of farce, can be nearly impossible when a film strives to keep its comic antics honest and true. Edwards manages this by making Alan a man who lives almost entirely in his past or future--and never really being "present" in the now. Or as the film puts it; "he always keeps the back door open and the motor running." We get that he's not dumb, he's just not fully present—which is the catalyst for "Enthusiasm" to become "romance." Stylistically, I enjoyed the use of jump cuts in key scenes. It creates a feeling of emotional disjuncture in the moment to moment work of the mise-en-scene; structurally reinforcing the thematic idea that Alan really isn't in control of what's happen around him.
Jeffie is entertaining and touching (So if you get a chance--hit your local film festival and give it a see, well worth your time!
His handling of the main characters is equally engaging, and I'll say it again, interesting. His leading man, Alan, has some astonishingly dumb moments--like missing the fact his significant other is pregnant even after she's all but told him--and yet still have us believe he is a college professor and otherwise an intelligent fellow. Giving smart people dumb moments; though the mainstay of farce, can be nearly impossible when a film strives to keep its comic antics honest and true. Edwards manages this by making Alan a man who lives almost entirely in his past or future--and never really being "present" in the now. Or as the film puts it; "he always keeps the back door open and the motor running." We get that he's not dumb, he's just not fully present—which is the catalyst for "Enthusiasm" to become "romance." Stylistically, I enjoyed the use of jump cuts in key scenes. It creates a feeling of emotional disjuncture in the moment to moment work of the mise-en-scene; structurally reinforcing the thematic idea that Alan really isn't in control of what's happen around him.
Jeffie is entertaining and touching (So if you get a chance--hit your local film festival and give it a see, well worth your time!