The Lather Effect (2006)

Director:

Sarah Kelly

Writers (WGA):

Sarah Kelly (written by) &
Tim Talbott (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes the only way to get over your past is to re-live it.

Plot:

On the eve of selling her mother's house, a thirty-something housewife wakes up to a hangover surrounded by her best friends from high school...

Plot Keywords:

Title Spoken By Character

Cast

Connie Britton	...	Valinda
Sarah Clarke	...	Claire
Tate Donovan	...	Will
Peter Facinelli	...	Danny
David Herman	...	Corey
Caitlin Keats	...	Katrina
William Mapother	...	Jack
Ione Skye	...	Zoey
Eric Stoltz	...	Mickey
Alex Irvine	...	Passed Out Top Gun Guy
Steve Prough	...	Home Inspector / Passed Out Spicoli
Adrienne Salick	...	Passed Out Pat Benetar
Kevin Heffernan	...	Pink Panty Dude
Larry Bishop	...	Dom at the Door
Monica Keena	...	Warm Leatherette Babe #1

Also Known As:

One More Night (Australia)

Runtime:

USA:95 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Lather Films

Trivia:

When Valinda (Connie Britton) is down in her brother Danny's (Peter Facinelli) bunker there are flashes of graffiti on the walls. One of the scenes shows "Joe Lies When He Cries" which is a reference to Say Anything... (1989), which Ione Skye starred in. Eric Stoltz also made a cameo in Say Anything... (1989).

Soundtrack:

Situation

A "Big Chill" for Generation X

This movie inevitably will be compared with The Big Chill, and that's okay. The Lather Effect is funny and poignant, and explores a lot of themes that are common to most people in their thirties regardless of when they grew up. I saw it when it played at South by Southwest, where it was well-received by the audience, who laughed and cheered in all the right places.

Valinda (Friday Night Light's Connie Britton) throws one last "rager" at her parents' house on the weekend before it is to be sold. The party's theme was "Come As You Were," so everyone was dressed in Eighties costumes, but along with their memories they also brought their unresolved issues from their teen years, as well as their adult fears about the future. On the morning after the party, the house is a huge mess that Valinda and her circle of friends have to clean up. In the process, long-buried secrets are revealed and old wounds are opened. The characters begin to come to terms with how their pasts affected the present, and contemplate the future.

The cast is excellent. Connie Britton carries the movie well, and Eric Stoltz steals many scenes as the slightly-older guy who used to crash every party when they were teens, in what feels like a reprisal of his cameo in Say Anything (minus the chicken suit). The soundtrack is great as well -- when can I buy the CD?