Surrogate Valentine (2011)

Director:

Dave Boyle

Writers:

Dave Boyle (written by)
Goh Nakamura (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

30 September 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

San Francisco indie musician Goh Nakamura lives a life on the road, navigating friendships and relationships. |

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Goh Nakamura	...	Himself
Chadd Stoops	...	Danny Tunrer
Lynn Chen	...	Rachel
Mary Cavett	...	Valerie
Joy Osmanski	...	Amy
Parry Shen	...	Bradley
Calpernia Addams	...	Tammi
Eric M. Levy	...	Arthur
Joe Polhemus	...	Dave Margolis (as Josiah Polhemus)
Dan Bjornson	...	Mark (as Dan 'Damage' Bjornson)
Di Quon	...	Emily
Alexandra Fulton	...	Diane
Natalie Lander	...	Sarah
Manuela Horn	...	Mark's Girlfriend
Matthew A. Gallagher	...	Fan #1
John-Michael Carlton	...	Fan #2
Ron Eliot	...	TV Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jimmy Chunga	...	Radio DJ
Patrick Epino	...	Sound Engineer
John Fukuda	...	Danny's old boss
Mary Elise Hayden

Directed by
Dave Boyle

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Dave Boyle		written by
Joel Clark		written by
Goh Nakamura		written by

Produced by
Duane Andersen	....	producer
Dave Boyle	....	producer
Alex Cannon	....	co-executive producer
Paul Cannon	....	co-executive producer
Gary Chou	....	executive producer
Michael Lerman	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Goh Nakamura

Cinematography by
Bill Otto

Film Editing by
Duane Andersen
Dave Boyle
Michael Lerman

Makeup Department
Michelle Dallas	....	makeup artist
Monique Ford	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Micah Dahl Anderson	....	foley artist
Curtis Choy	....	sound mixer
Carlos Sanches	....	supervising sound editor
Nathan Whitcomb	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Leonid Karachko	....	compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Matthew J. Stroud	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Spencer Plewe	....	assistant editor

Other crew
David Benjamin	....	production assistant
Marlene Minori Nishime	....	production assistant
Drew Sugimoto	....	production assistant
Serena Wong	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Brainwave
• Tiger Industry Films

Distributors

• Gravitas Ventures (2011) (USA) (video) (VOD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Brainwave

Soundtrack:

Smooth One

I wanted to like it, but it's more middling that good or bad. Nice b&w feel.

Surrogate Valentine (2011)

An interesting if not commanding attempt to show a slice of life of a promising young musician at a crossroads in his life. There are echoes here are of the much better in other movies, including the really special "I Am Not a Hipster" released 2012.

Here in rather nice black and white we have quiet (rather introverted) guitarist and singer who is asked to help train a loud (rather extroverted) actor who needs to pretend to play guitar in a scene. A couple of love interests (girlfriends) come and go, and a weird, incomplete friendship forms between the two male leads. On paper it sounds pretty cool.

The problem (with the movie) is multi-fold. For one, this story only goes so far. It's simple to the point of needed either depth of expression or some layering and complexity (you know: a subplot). It has neither. Sometimes it's even a little cursory (or confusing) as the lead trots between cities for a brief this or that (a performance, a talk). There are asides that don't quite matter (like a part about a promoter who collects guns).

The lead actor (Goh Nakamura) is rather good, but he's so restrained you don't totally get on board with his situation. The actor who is his counterpoint (Chadd Stoops) is appropriately over the top, but not completely convincing. The rest of the cast is fine to middling, sometimes bordering on obviously amateur.

Yes, I know it's a low budget indie. If you want to lower your bar and go along with the style as "necessary" to the genre, you might get more out of it than I did. Or than is there. The nuances of the time, the bits of Seattle and San Francisco in the backdrop, are not examined or revealed or even enjoyed for simply being there. The idea of making it in that world of renting studio time and performing half baked music and performing on a shoestring is great stuff, but it's subdued here. The meat of it is supposed to be the interaction between these two opposite males, and it never quite connects and takes off.

In short, it's a okay movie with an okay premise and some okay talents. That adds up to a watchable, gentle movie with a few strong moments. Is that clear without being brutal?