Screenwriter and director James Vasquez created an entertaining and humorous film about a single mother's response to her son's interest in cheerleading and early indications that he may be homosexual, while facing her own issues and fears of abandonment through a chaotic life where she's always barely hanging on.
Carrie Preston played character Andy Dowd, an over-caffeinated single mother whose life is one of barely functional chaos as she runs from one professional demand to another. Preston shined most in her confessional scene where she breaks down and expounds on the problems in her life. Although the dialogue was too much telling for my taste, Preston did a wonderful job of bringing life to the lines and making me believe her character was having this late-life epiphany. Her facial expressions and physical movements made this scene moving and allowed the viewer to connect with her character's point of view because the viewer could see the pain her character was experiencing. Preston did a wonderful job in all her scenes. I found her character believable and didn't have any moments where I was taken out of the film by anything about the acting. I think one of her greatest assets is her facial expressions she can say a lot with a look. Also, she's a terrific hugger. Some people just can't give good hugs, but she's not one of those. Another scene Preston shined in what the interview for a new job. Her tone of voice showed an interesting depiction of a nervous woman who is unsure what she has to offer but is also desperate for the job and badly pretending to be something she is not. All nuances came across through Preston's skill, and I really felt for her character. The dialogue supported her or she supported it I'm not sure but both dialogue and actor worked well together in this scene.
Lurie Poston played character Josh Dowd, the energetic and forward-thinking young boy who wants to be a cheerleader. Vasquez gave Poston scripted cheers but let him work out the different moves and scansion of the cheers for the scenes. This kid was terrific. His character was more mature than one I would expect for that age, but Poston pulled it off well. His enthusiasm comes through his character, and he plays Josh as such a sweet, forgiving boy, who a little lost in his own identity but knows what he likes want has the determination to follow his dreams. I'm not sure how much of my reaction to this character came from excellent writing and how much came from the acting, but I enjoyed both. Poston is a terrific find for this role, and I hope to see him in other films. He brought such fervor to his character.
Michael Emerson played character Charlie New, the nice guy next door/fairy godfather. As usual, Emerson was fantastic. Emerson's first scene is walking in on John G. Preston amid a sea of paper boats in the living room. Emerson plays awkwardly meeting a stranger in his neighbor's house very well. He moves from surprise, to curiosity, to distraction (by the lovely music on the record player) with ease. Although his lines peg his character as a gay man, he doesn't play the role in an over-the-top way, and I enjoyed the subtleness of the scene. At the end, he gets pushy about taking Alex's pants to sew up with just enough pauses and looks between the two actors to give the audience time to laugh at the well-timed situational humor. I have so many favorite scenes that Emerson was in that I find it difficult not to talk about all of them. I suppose my top favorites were his cheering scene (awkward and exuberant and hilarious), his exit from Josh's party that the character handle with dignity and compassion through a sense of unease, and the confrontation Charlie has with Andy while he's pinning up a dress - the scene was inspiring, moving, and poignant.
John G. Preston played character Alex Dowd, the transient brother/uncle who has no place or ambition in life. John Preston's interaction with his real life sister, Carrie Preston, felt very real. He played the out of work, deadbeat who is doing the best he can very well. John Preston shined most in his scene with "Josh" because he managed to play his role as less mature than his character's nephew. Also, his dance scenes with the sign for his job were lots of fun.
Kali Rocha played Halle Hinton, and she did an excellent job of making me want to smack her character. Hinton is a diva reporter who appears to see others as servants or "little people." Rocha adds a nice level of humor by playing Hinton as that extremely self-centered person we all know and can never quite believe, but they still exist.
Tara Karsian played Sister Vivian, the repressive nun who keeps trying to keep Josh on the "straight" and narrow, approved path. Although her character represents a suppressive force, I found myself liking Karsian's portrayal because she played such a straight-man character in the face of an overwhelmingly eager and passionate child. Her character's world view would not allow her to support the child, but the writers (both James Vasquez and Carrie Preston) resisted the urger to demonize this character, instead allowing Karsian to play the well-meaning person who thinks she's doing the right thing and totally lacks the capacity to understand her charge.
Ready? OK! is an excellent film. I highly recommend going to see it.
27 out of 36 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
