"All About Nina" (2018 release; 98 min.) brings the story of Nina, a struggling stand-up comedian looking to break through. As the movie opens, Nina is doing a very R-rated gig in New York, and afterwards we see her with her abusive (and married) boyfriend. Nina decides that she needs a complete change of scenery, and moves to LA. After her first stand-up show there, she gets to know Rafe, a guy who seems to be too good to be true.... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the feature film writing and directing debut of Eva Vives (from Spain). Here, she takes some of her own life experiences and turns them into what initially appears to be a very raunchy comedy. However, the movie changes gear several times. As Nina (who claims she doesn't date) and Rafe get to know each other better, Nina finds herself in a confused spot."You keep being honest, what is wrong with you?", Nina exasperates early on. Later, Nina confesses to a friend that "He's just the right amount of screwed-up". Yet deeper into the movie, we find out more about Nina... All of this might be a bit too much or even suspicious, if it weren't for the dazzling performance of Marie Elizabeth Winstead as Nina. She leaves it all out there (literally) for this role. Common plays the mysterious Rafe a little too aloof in my book. The stand-up scenes (of which there are quite a few) feature both Nina and a number of other wannabe's and are quite good actually. Bottom line: this lil' movie turns out to be quite the character study (as deeply flas as that character may be), with along the way quite a few raunchy stand-up comedy.
"All About Nina" premiered at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, and it finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this past weekend (for a limited 1 week run, according to the theater). The Sunday early evening screening was attended so-so (about 10 people). That's a shame, but maybe the movie will do better when it opens on other platforms. If you are interested in a character study that is at times dark and at times raunchy funny, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it at the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the feature film writing and directing debut of Eva Vives (from Spain). Here, she takes some of her own life experiences and turns them into what initially appears to be a very raunchy comedy. However, the movie changes gear several times. As Nina (who claims she doesn't date) and Rafe get to know each other better, Nina finds herself in a confused spot."You keep being honest, what is wrong with you?", Nina exasperates early on. Later, Nina confesses to a friend that "He's just the right amount of screwed-up". Yet deeper into the movie, we find out more about Nina... All of this might be a bit too much or even suspicious, if it weren't for the dazzling performance of Marie Elizabeth Winstead as Nina. She leaves it all out there (literally) for this role. Common plays the mysterious Rafe a little too aloof in my book. The stand-up scenes (of which there are quite a few) feature both Nina and a number of other wannabe's and are quite good actually. Bottom line: this lil' movie turns out to be quite the character study (as deeply flas as that character may be), with along the way quite a few raunchy stand-up comedy.
"All About Nina" premiered at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, and it finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this past weekend (for a limited 1 week run, according to the theater). The Sunday early evening screening was attended so-so (about 10 people). That's a shame, but maybe the movie will do better when it opens on other platforms. If you are interested in a character study that is at times dark and at times raunchy funny, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it at the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.