The title is a play on Ingmar Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage. You could say it covers a bit of the same territory--as any movie about marriage/relationships would. But the tone and construction of the movie owes more to Woody Allen's work.
The comparison is impossible not to make. Music is used like Allen uses it, and the early jazz guitar instrumentals sound almost identical (maybe they are) to music in many of Allen's films. The music serves not just as a bridge between scenes or for montages, but it sometimes plays under dialog too. Allen does the same thing.
The vagueness of relationships, how they've come to be formed, and what they are is also Allen-esque, as is the primary plot device: overhearing "scenes" from neighbors' gay marriage and becoming obsessed by one half of the couple who might potentially become eligible. And there's an effort to keep the plot from overwhelming the film, to keep it somewhat light and abstract, enough to make it feel modern and sophisticated. All this seems a little too much--it comes dangerously close to being more about style than substance.
The dialog rings true enough even if the encounters between characters seem implausible or forced. I kept thinking that there were paths the writer could have taken that would have made this really interesting, but instead it stays pretty safe. Unfortunately playing it safe doesn't make for a great film, or one that is compelling. But this did hold my interest, I'll say that much. And there's a lot about it that is original.
I don't know why I'm reluctant to call this good. It's very watchable. But just as the movies of Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allan aren't for everybody, neither is this. And don't get the idea that it's that kind of quality--it isn't. But it aspires to be, and that's worth something.
The comparison is impossible not to make. Music is used like Allen uses it, and the early jazz guitar instrumentals sound almost identical (maybe they are) to music in many of Allen's films. The music serves not just as a bridge between scenes or for montages, but it sometimes plays under dialog too. Allen does the same thing.
The vagueness of relationships, how they've come to be formed, and what they are is also Allen-esque, as is the primary plot device: overhearing "scenes" from neighbors' gay marriage and becoming obsessed by one half of the couple who might potentially become eligible. And there's an effort to keep the plot from overwhelming the film, to keep it somewhat light and abstract, enough to make it feel modern and sophisticated. All this seems a little too much--it comes dangerously close to being more about style than substance.
The dialog rings true enough even if the encounters between characters seem implausible or forced. I kept thinking that there were paths the writer could have taken that would have made this really interesting, but instead it stays pretty safe. Unfortunately playing it safe doesn't make for a great film, or one that is compelling. But this did hold my interest, I'll say that much. And there's a lot about it that is original.
I don't know why I'm reluctant to call this good. It's very watchable. But just as the movies of Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allan aren't for everybody, neither is this. And don't get the idea that it's that kind of quality--it isn't. But it aspires to be, and that's worth something.
