I Do… Until I Don’t
DMV or couples’s therapy?
Oh, wow, no. Writer/director/producer/lead actress Lake Bell follows up her underwhelming but affable 2013 debut In a World… with this shockingly unfunny romantic comedy. The plot revolves around three utterly revolting couples—Bell and Ed Helms as a childless duo who have lost the spark; Mary Steenburgen and Paul Reiser as her parents, hostile and hurtling towards divorce; and Amber Heard and Wyatt Cenac as self-identified swingers coming to terms with their monogamy. They’re all distinctly unlikable characters with the shrill performances to match, but none of them compares to Dolly Wells as Vivian, a determined documentary filmmaker who manipulates the couples to prove a point about abolishing marriage. Right down to that insipid, cutesy-poo title, I Do…Until I Don’t plays like a succession of bullet-point clichés about love and sex and marriage that no one ever bothered to develop, connect together or base in any kind of reality.
More Film » Short Reviews
Patti Cake$
The film essentially sutures the story arc and milieu of 8 Mile onto the character details and chintzy dream sequences of Precious.
Published on 09.07.17
All Saints
Steve Armour’s script seems to presume that we’ve read the nonfiction book on which it is based, and that we can fill in all the holes.
Published on 08.31.17
The Only Living Boy in New York
A college grad (Callum Turner) slouches around lower Manhattan, scorning his privileged Park Avenue upbringing and wondering what to do with his life; when he learns that his father (Pierce Brosnan) has a mistress.
Published on 08.31.17
Brigsby Bear
The basic premise is more than a little far-fetched and inadequately explained—but if you can get behind it, the movie’s rewards are many.
Published on 08.31.17
Ingrid Goes West
The acting is good, but this wannabe black-comedy riff on the dangers of social media misfires.
Published on 08.31.17