Beside Still Waters
Directed by: Chris Lowell
Written by: Chris Lowell, Mohit Narang
Starring: Ryan Eggold, Reid Scott, Beck Bennett, Will Brill, Brett Dalton, Erin Darke, Jessy Hodges, Britt Lower
Comedy/Drama/Romance - 76 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 13 Nov 2014
Written by: Chris Lowell, Mohit Narang
Starring: Ryan Eggold, Reid Scott, Beck Bennett, Will Brill, Brett Dalton, Erin Darke, Jessy Hodges, Britt Lower
Comedy/Drama/Romance - 76 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 13 Nov 2014
Even though the method is recognized as an excuse to run through a mountain of plot in a brief amount of time, I still appreciate the large cast ensemble which assigns a specific problem to each character which will either be rectified or altered in the span of 24 hours or a long weekend. Beside Still Waters closely resembles The Big Chill (1983) where a death brings together a disparate group of folks who used to be best friends in high school. Each member brings whatever external problem is bearing down on their life at the moment with them and in the spirit of The Breakfast Club (1985), St. Elmo’s Fire (1985), and Empire Records (1995), each person will undergo some sort of metamorphosis, reach a conclusion, and/or achieve closure by the end credits. Chris Lowell’s Beside Still Waters doesn’t break any new ground in the ‘we all have our issues’ nostalgia department, but I appreciate the first time writer/director’s attempt to create memorable characters and match them with witty dialogue.
The weekenders in Beside Still Waters have not reached their mid-life crises yet but they are a bit too old for quarter-life nonsense as well. We never learn their actual ages, but since most of their problems stem from whether or not to get married or employment issues, these folks circle their very late-‘20s to early-‘30s. Ryan Eggold (2014's The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) plays Daniel who just inherited and is in the midst of foreclosing on his recently deceased parents’ large and well-kept dream house in the woods. He plans a ‘last hoorah’ weekend with his old high school chums because they formed all of their coming of age memories at the house. What becomes awkward for Daniel, however, is his mates do not share his desire to walk down memory lane. They show up more out of obligation than to support an emotionally ailing friend.
The weekenders in Beside Still Waters have not reached their mid-life crises yet but they are a bit too old for quarter-life nonsense as well. We never learn their actual ages, but since most of their problems stem from whether or not to get married or employment issues, these folks circle their very late-‘20s to early-‘30s. Ryan Eggold (2014's The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) plays Daniel who just inherited and is in the midst of foreclosing on his recently deceased parents’ large and well-kept dream house in the woods. He plans a ‘last hoorah’ weekend with his old high school chums because they formed all of their coming of age memories at the house. What becomes awkward for Daniel, however, is his mates do not share his desire to walk down memory lane. They show up more out of obligation than to support an emotionally ailing friend.
The most notable transgressor is Daniel’s ex-girlfriend, Olivia (Britt Lower). She makes the striking faux-pas to bring along her brand new fiancé, Henry (Reid Scott, HBO's Veep), to the gathering. Ouch. Daniel’s fire for Olivia reignites immediately upon seeing her again, but the presence of the invasive and unwanted Henry fellow is a problem. This is nothing a hearty game of whisky slaps and an underhanded date rape drugging cannot solve though. Daniel’s compatriots Tom (Saturday Night Live's Beck Bennett) and Charley (Jessy Hodges) are more than willing to commit a couple misdemeanors if it means cheering up their down in the dumps bro.
Is whisky slaps already a thing or did Chris Lowell invent it for this film? Hopefully initiated when you are already well along the inebriation spectrum, you take a shot of whisky and your partner immediately open-hand slaps you firmly across the cheek. I have never seen the game played before and it works as one of the film’s main attractions. The old friends ditch the awkwardness of so many years apart and forget the who did what to whom accusations and jump in with both feet into a game, while violent, means something to the group and makes for a heck of an enjoyable time for the audience.
Taking place over 36 hours or so, various characters fall into bed together, work out their relationship issues, or hash out a vector for the next step in their sputtering life plan. While all these plot devices are par for the course, Lowell includes a clever sequence editing between three groups of people all talking about the same events and splicing them together. The group of girls dissects last night in the car while some of the gentlemen discuss the same events while fishing arriving at wildly different conclusions in a very funny manner. This scene of disparate analysis is even more amusing than the whisky slaps.
Lowell, best known as Stosh ‘Piz’ Piznarski from Veronica Mars, adds an effective film onto the ‘solve all your problems in one weekend’ pile. The resolutions are common sense, the melodrama is kept low even though we cannot avoid all of it, and best of all, whiskey slaps, I mean, you’ll laugh. This is an impressive first feature film and I look forward to Lowell’s next project.
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