Drinking Buddies

Drinking Buddies (2013)

** (out of 4)

Best friends Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) spend all their time at work together and they often go out drinking afterwards. This is fine even though both are involved with other people but soon when the four go on a weekend trip things get a tad bit more complicated. Director Joe Swanberg's latest film is one I really wanted to watch but as the film went along I couldn't help but start to dislike all of the characters more and more. Whenever you're watching a film like this it's important that you can enjoy spending time with the characters because for 90-minutes you're basically just watching them get drunk and talk. In fact, there's a lot of talking in this movie and I didn't find a single line of it all that interested. There are many reasons for this but one of the biggest is that the film is pretty predictable right down to the final scene, which I must admit made me laugh because of how obvious it was. Another problem is like I said, the characters are all just so boring and uninteresting that you really don't care about what they're feeling, thinking or doing. This is especially true for the Kate character who never really makes too much sense and I'd say the Luke character is just as dumb. I'm really not sure what type of point or message the director was trying to make with these characters but they just come across as rather idiotic and lifeless. The performances are the one thing that helps keep the film interesting. Wilde is always good no matter what she's doing. Johnson was believable in his part. Anna Kendrick was good in the role of the girlfriend but the screenplay certainly did her character no favors. Ron Livingston played the boyfriend and again, the screenplay didn't do much for him. DRINKING BUDDIES will probably find a cult crowd out there who connects with these people but I'd recommend going out drinking with your own buddies instead of watching this.

I really wanted to like the movie, because it was supposed to be something about real human relationships, not some fairy tale. And it was, and it was boring as hell. Basically the sole strength of the film, if not its entire premise, is the romantic tension between the main character, interpreted by Olivia Wilde, and her colleague at a beer factory. They are friends, but are they only that? You spend one hour and a half to find out.

The highlight of the film, for me, was the double date trip. There we see how people who paired up for romantic relationships get to have more fun and feel more connected to people from other couples. I think it is the most honest moment of the film, I've been there and it feels so weird to pit instant and exciting connection with a stranger against the meaningful but tired relationship with your significant other. The comparison is impossible to make.

Even if this film feels indie in script, acting and budget, one can still be surprised by the cast. Not only Olivia Wilde, but also Ron Livingston, Anna Hendrick and Jason Sudeikis are playing. So for such a cast I had better expectations than what I was served. I really wished the drinking in the title would be something meaningful, not just that a quarter of the film is about people drinking in the same room.

Bottom line: it was a raw, realistic film about human relationships. A "life movie" how my mother would call it. It was not too pretentious and overall was well done and acted. The problem is that it doesn't bring much to the table and ended up to be extremely boring to me. Also, 13 doesn't look as good naked as I had expected ;)

I've been highly anticipating this in the hopes that it would be this year's Celeste & Jesse Forever and it didn't disappoint at all: it's more light-hearted and less penetrative, but has the same keen eye for relationship dynamics, sly humor, realistic characters and fantastic soundtrack. It's the most true-to-life romantic comedy I've seen in years. The characters were so relatable, totally reminded me of people in my life, and Joe Swanberg doesn't need plot twists or external drama to push the story along because it unfolds so naturally through the character interactions and developments.

It doesn't dig very deep into its characters, but I felt that was accurate and appropriate: we don't know much about the characters because they don't let people get to know them. Daily interactions are shallow, jokey; the deep conversations and self-revelations only really happen at 4am by a bonfire after a few drinks. I think the film would have been much worse if it had a Katherine-Heigl-movie moment of all the characters spilling their feelings and wants and grievances to each other because that is not how life goes - at least not for these people.

Olivia Wilde is outstanding and while it's not the powerhouse role I've been waiting for her to take on, it does further establish her as an impressively natural and charismatic talent simply in need of the right roles. She's hilarious and buoyant and handles her dramatic moments - however fleeting or quiet - with expert skill. Jake Johnson was the perfect match for Wilde as they have incredible chemistry and their charming banter keeps the movie energized. Anna Kendrick basically plays herself, but she's very good, as is Ron Livingston with a curiously enigmatic performance.

It won't appeal to everyone, because as it is so realistic, not much happens. It's more focused on the almosts and the might-have-beens than the happeneds. But it's so delightful, funny, observant, and coyly ambiguous, I really hope people give it a chance. It's not going to revolutionize cinema or anything but it has an authenticity, spark and lively wit that the genre generally eschews in favor of saccharine clichés and melodramatic crying scenes.

From the threadbare 'Hannah takes the Stairs' to the layered, clever 'Alexander the Last', the quality of Joe Swanberg's films has traditionally been erratic. 'Drinking Buddies' falls somewhere in the upper half of his range as it portrays how a couple of brewery co-workers deal with mutual sexual attraction while engaged in relationships with other partners. Kate and Luke use their love of beer as an excuse to hang out while concealing their amorous agenda and ambivalence in an alcoholic haze. The improvised dialog does deliver some amusing moments, but there are too many repetitive exchanges which dissipate the film's energy.

The two lead actors create credible characters, but Swanberg doesn't give them anywhere particularly interesting to go, and there doesn't appear to be anything of great value at stake. Kate and Luke's Romeo and Juliette saga turns into a circular song-and-dance routine, until their friendship becomes infected by frustration, leading to dishonesty and irritability. The concept is intriguing, but the film turns into an effective endorsement of sobriety. Swanberg has shown he can do better than this, and the end titles arrive just in time.

This is not your ordinary rom/com. This movie focuses on conversations and relationships. Long, realistic conversations with buddies, work colleagues and partners. It's so sad to see reviews complaining that this movie is too realistic and that nothing happens, when that's exactly what the movie aims for.

I was expecting another generic romantic Hollywood drama/comedy like The Dilemma or the Change-Up, with an obvious plot to work around and some clichés thrown in. Instead it felt more like Blue Valentine meets Closer, but lighter than Blue Valentine and more realistic than Closer.

I liked the long camera shots that follow the characters around, focusing on them and their interactions. I liked that I didn't know what was going to happen in a scene because there's no obvious overall plot in the movie. There's just ordinary people having ordinary conversations.