Hey folks, Harry here, and I just couldn't resist beating talkbackers to the punch... hehehhe... Actually this sounds like an interesting indie film. Currently I'm at SXSW here in Austin and actually just got back from a fantastic documentary from that documentary genius from Canada... RON MANN, anyway, I'll be getting to that review soon enough, meanwhile here's LIFE IN BED...
Hello Harry, et al.
Big fan, etc.
Had the occasion to see a premiere of the independent film "Life in Bed" at the Santa Barbara Film Festival last night. Directed by Nick Lindsay (most notably of a Kid Rock Documentary- please don't let that scare you), the film centers around three new emigres from NYC to LA, all of whom share the same king-sized bed in a studio apartment. Thus, they share a "Life" in a "Bed". Get it?
Each of the three women gets caught up in a drug-induced languor in their bed until a rock-star (played capably by Michael Nickles who apparently played Jim Morrison in Wayne's World 2) joins them in their already cramped digs. How each of the women adapts (poorly) to this new variable is what dominates the rest of the movie.
There are a scant few misses in the movie. Lindsay tries to be very kitschy about the production and dialogue style (imagine a movie produced by a Barbie doll and you're close), to the point where many of the scenes look amateurish. You get the idea that he's doing this on purpose, but that's not confirmed until half-way through the movie (in a hilarious blue-screen driving sequence). Also, he included some dream sequences about the narrator's father that were funny, but irrelavent to the story and the characters. It's possible I'm simply not smart enough to get the link, but I just wasn't getting that vibe from the rest of the audience. I also think the soundtrack sucked out loud, but that might be just me. Finally, one should not be fooled into thinking this a light-hearted "Three's Company" styled situation comedy. I was, but maybe I should take that up with the film festival people who mis-characterized it.
Lindsay did a lot of things right, though, and it starts with the great cast. The narrator and her two bed-sharing friends lead the charge to mock LA by turning themselves into stereotypes (the tortured writer, wannabe actress, and trophy wife). The whole movie makes fun of LA in a way that is much darker than notable films such as LA Story or Swingers. The fact that the characters make their entirely screwed-up situations appear normal within the context of an LA lifestyle is at once entertaining and disturbing. The writing hits way more than it misses (especially the love poems from the narrator's ex-boyfriend- very funny), and the scenes are campy enough to keep the movie from getting too dark.
Overall, "Life in Bed" is a strong film if you get the chance to check it out. It stretches into too much surrealism, drug use and full frontal nudity to get wide distribution as is (sigh), but it's clever enough to catch. I can't imagine it will surpass "Irreversible" in viewership or buzz at the festival, but it would be a shame if this one didn't get at least some attention.
If you use this, please call me
-FuddChuckles
