Flannel Pajamas
PARK CITY -- Who said there are no second acts in American lives? Veteran indie executive Jeff Lipsky returns to Sundance on the other side of the aisle as writer-director with his beautifully executed and provocative second feature, "Flannel Pajamas". A thoughtful dissection of the courtship and marriage of two ultimately mismatched New Yorkers, film is destined to be a conversation piece among sophisticated couples. Pic should have a healthy run in art houses and a long afterlife on cable and DVD.
What starts out seeming like a poor man's Woody Allen morphs into something closer to an American version of "Scenes From a Marriage". Stuart (Jason Kirk) and Nicole (Julianne Nicholson) meet on a blind date at a hip Manhattan dinner and magic happens. Pretty soon it's picnics in the park and hot sex on the floor of his high rise. Their mutual need and attraction makes for instant chemistry, but Lipsky lingers a bit too long introducing characters in that first scene instead of getting down to business.
All at once, we meet Stuart's mentally unstable but charismatic brother Jordan (Jamie Harrold, resembling a young, manic Jim Carrey) and Nicole's best friend Tess (Chelsea Altman), whom Stuart takes an instant dislike to and proclaims evil.
Nicole, an adorable freckle-faced Catholic girl, is the kind of woman who comes with a lot of baggage, which she dutifully unpacks as the film unfolds. Stuart, an attentive Jewish guy who makes s a living inventing fictionalized sales pitches for Broadway shows, starts out glib and becomes more vulnerable and likable as the film progresses. Kirk and Nicholson are utterly convincing as the ill-fated couple and give the proceedings a total sense of realism.
The lengthy courtship and honeymoon period could benefit from some judicious trimming in the early going, but things really get interesting once the relationship hits the skids. The first signs of trouble in paradise occur are on a trip to Missoula, Montana where they go to spend the Christmas holidays with Nicole's five siblings and divorced parents. Stuart inexplicably gets the chilliest of welcomes from Nicole's artist mother Elizabeth (Rebecca Schull).
The warning signs, of course, are there, and Lipsky does a good job planting the seeds of discord. When two people are so desperate for contact they find reasons to fall in love. For Stuart, he says he wants to protect someone, and Nicole is the one he's chosen. For Nicole, she's trying to rewrite a devastating family history that she keeps buried. Not a good formula for success in marriage.
Lipsky cleverly peppers his script with some stunning surprises that literally made the Sundance audience gasp. The first involves Stuart's harsh attempt to control what he considers the potential corrupting influence of Tess's promiscuity on his wife. The other, a classic confrontation between husband and mother-in-law, is a scene of hair- raising power as Elizabeth totally lays her cards on the table about why she hates him so much. The pathology in the family runs even deeper than he thought. In addition to being beautifully played by Schull, Lipsky's writing here is razor sharp.
Since the film has been created by a man, with presumably some autobiographical elements, it's not surprising that the story is told more from Stuart's perspective and he ultimately emerges as the more sympathetic and sane person. Because of that, this could be one of those films that sharply divide male and female audiences and make for spirited late night discussions.
Given the film's limited budget (reported to be less than a million dollars) and the lightening fast shoot, film is a remarkable achievement for a sophomore director. Paul Hsu's subtle piano score handles highly emotional moments with great restraint. And other tech credits are strong enough to deliver Lipsky's achingly romantic vision of love in a time of cynicism.
FLANNEL PAJAMAS
Gigantic Pictures
Credits:
Director Jeff Lipsky
Writer: Lipsky
Producers: Jonathan Gray, Brian Devine, Jason Orans
Executive producer: Simon Channing-Williams
Director of photography: Martina Radwan
Production designer: Len X. Clayton
Music: Paul Hsu
Costume designer: Amy Bradshaw
Editor: Sara Corrigan.
Cast:
Stuart Sawyer: Justin Kirk
Nicole Reilly: Julianne Nicholson
Elizabeth: Rebecca Schull
Jordan: Jamie Harrold
Tess: Chelsea Altman
Bill: Tom Bower
Megan: Stephanie Roth Haberle
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 124 minutes...
What starts out seeming like a poor man's Woody Allen morphs into something closer to an American version of "Scenes From a Marriage". Stuart (Jason Kirk) and Nicole (Julianne Nicholson) meet on a blind date at a hip Manhattan dinner and magic happens. Pretty soon it's picnics in the park and hot sex on the floor of his high rise. Their mutual need and attraction makes for instant chemistry, but Lipsky lingers a bit too long introducing characters in that first scene instead of getting down to business.
All at once, we meet Stuart's mentally unstable but charismatic brother Jordan (Jamie Harrold, resembling a young, manic Jim Carrey) and Nicole's best friend Tess (Chelsea Altman), whom Stuart takes an instant dislike to and proclaims evil.
Nicole, an adorable freckle-faced Catholic girl, is the kind of woman who comes with a lot of baggage, which she dutifully unpacks as the film unfolds. Stuart, an attentive Jewish guy who makes s a living inventing fictionalized sales pitches for Broadway shows, starts out glib and becomes more vulnerable and likable as the film progresses. Kirk and Nicholson are utterly convincing as the ill-fated couple and give the proceedings a total sense of realism.
The lengthy courtship and honeymoon period could benefit from some judicious trimming in the early going, but things really get interesting once the relationship hits the skids. The first signs of trouble in paradise occur are on a trip to Missoula, Montana where they go to spend the Christmas holidays with Nicole's five siblings and divorced parents. Stuart inexplicably gets the chilliest of welcomes from Nicole's artist mother Elizabeth (Rebecca Schull).
The warning signs, of course, are there, and Lipsky does a good job planting the seeds of discord. When two people are so desperate for contact they find reasons to fall in love. For Stuart, he says he wants to protect someone, and Nicole is the one he's chosen. For Nicole, she's trying to rewrite a devastating family history that she keeps buried. Not a good formula for success in marriage.
Lipsky cleverly peppers his script with some stunning surprises that literally made the Sundance audience gasp. The first involves Stuart's harsh attempt to control what he considers the potential corrupting influence of Tess's promiscuity on his wife. The other, a classic confrontation between husband and mother-in-law, is a scene of hair- raising power as Elizabeth totally lays her cards on the table about why she hates him so much. The pathology in the family runs even deeper than he thought. In addition to being beautifully played by Schull, Lipsky's writing here is razor sharp.
Since the film has been created by a man, with presumably some autobiographical elements, it's not surprising that the story is told more from Stuart's perspective and he ultimately emerges as the more sympathetic and sane person. Because of that, this could be one of those films that sharply divide male and female audiences and make for spirited late night discussions.
Given the film's limited budget (reported to be less than a million dollars) and the lightening fast shoot, film is a remarkable achievement for a sophomore director. Paul Hsu's subtle piano score handles highly emotional moments with great restraint. And other tech credits are strong enough to deliver Lipsky's achingly romantic vision of love in a time of cynicism.
FLANNEL PAJAMAS
Gigantic Pictures
Credits:
Director Jeff Lipsky
Writer: Lipsky
Producers: Jonathan Gray, Brian Devine, Jason Orans
Executive producer: Simon Channing-Williams
Director of photography: Martina Radwan
Production designer: Len X. Clayton
Music: Paul Hsu
Costume designer: Amy Bradshaw
Editor: Sara Corrigan.
Cast:
Stuart Sawyer: Justin Kirk
Nicole Reilly: Julianne Nicholson
Elizabeth: Rebecca Schull
Jordan: Jamie Harrold
Tess: Chelsea Altman
Bill: Tom Bower
Megan: Stephanie Roth Haberle
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 124 minutes...
- 1/24/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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