Race You to the Bottom (2005)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Russell Brown

Writer:

Russell Brown (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Maybe their boyfriends should worry...

Plot:

Bisexual travel writer Nathan examines his increasingly complex feelings for Maggie as they travel through California's wine country on assignment.

Plot Keywords:

Bisexual | Wine | Boyfriend | Cable Car | Volkswagen

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Amber Benson	...	Maggie
Cole Williams	...	Nathan
Jeremy Lelliott	...	Nicholas
Justin Zachary	...	Milo
Justin Hartley	...	Joe
Danielle Harris	...	Carla
Philipp Karner	...	Eric
Ruben Dario	...	Angry Man
Kristin Hensley	...	Angry Woman
Patrick Belton	...	Tabriz Rug Guy
Al Liner	...	Marco the Winery Owner
Danny Scheie	...	Tour Guide
Adam Del Rio	...	Victor the Waiter
Hannah Evans	...	Sales Lady
Erin Cahill	...	Waitress

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, language and brief drug use.

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Simon, The

Quotes:

Carla: Exactly how long has this affair with you and Nathan been going on?
Maggie: Six months now.
Carla: You know, some people might consider that a little slutty.
Maggie: You know, I probably think the same thing. But...
Carla: But what?
Maggie: Well it's actually just really innocent, and child-like, and kadnistic all at the same time.
Carla: How does he explain the whole gay thing?
Maggie: Nathan's one of those 70-30 gays.
Carla: Bisexualty is just one stop on the road to 'Gayville'.

Nothing Rang True, Not Even the Tacked-On Ending

I agree with another reviewer here about the film's decent technical quality, but I wouldn't extend that to acting. Amber Benson is good, actually, but the rest of the cast is pretty much sub-par. I particularly thought many of Cole Williams' lines were read poorly.

The story could have been interesting, but the script didn't do it justice. The dialog sounded forced and stilted much of the time. It just didn't ring true, didn't sound like true life. When the plot conflict develops, I couldn't quite see the reason for it. There didn't seem to be anything happening that hadn't happened before so I couldn't understand the characters' reactions.

It was difficult not to compare this movie to Sideways. Not that they had all that much in common except the location, but that was enough to have me constantly thinking of how much better this movie could have been.