Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven and Christian McKay are 40-something college friends with a simple tradition: once a year, they gather in a swanky Big Sur beach house for a week of family-free drugged-out bliss. Lowe's character, a doctor, provides a suitcase full of pills that would make Raoul Duke drool. At first, it's all skinny dipping, cigars and brandy, but eventually, this group of uniformly fit and successful men reveal their dark secret.
They're like, deep, man.
Director Mark Pellington (Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies) has lovingly crafted a cinematic bitch-fest of epic proportions. As the men get higher and drunker, we gradually learn of their woes -- financial trouble, depression, a few deaths in the family -- as well as a mysterious pact they made long ago. I'm amazed they actually had time to feel sorry for themselves, what with all the booze, blow and sex with former porn star Sasha Grey. Hey, it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.
I Melt with You is packed with creative camerawork, scenic vistas and mindf*ck music by tomandandy, but it's all window dressing. We're left with four stoned rich dudes contemplating the utter bummer of existence. Their families and careers bore them to pieces, almost literally. Look, I'm all for confronting my failures and mourning the death of my youthful ideals, but not on vacation for Christ's sake. Maybe I'll feel different at 40.
SumOlogy: The Middle-Aged Self-Pity Olympics.
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