This is a perfect case study for all you first time filmakers out there. Miss Burson, the director, has made a noble attempt at reinventing the teenage sex comedy here; the problem, as with many debuts, lies with poor production values and a general lack of joi de vive. She starts with a bang as we meet young Stream Hodsell having her virginity pounded out of her by rich kid boyfriend Chad (played by newcomer James Roday in a hilarious, scene stealing turn)and then watch as her two best friends (one is Gaby Hoffman in one of the worst wigs I've ever seen on film) cluster and superimpose their wealth of pseudo-sexual knowledge that clearly foreshadows the journeys to follow. Nice set-up. Three flowering princesses in search of the big "O". Unfortunately, the film gradually loses steam the rest of the way. Mia Farrow shows up as Stream's beatnik mother who, along with the rest of us, can't seem to make much of a connection with her daughter's daily rites of passage. The role is terribly underwritten and I couldn't help but wonder if Farrow just needed a break from her kiddie farm. A host of tacky cameos from the likes of Ryan O'Neal and Peter Bogdonovich only serves to cheapen the already thin production values (there's a scene in a night club that looks like it was shot on video) and by the time the second act rolled around I had lost track of what the film was trying to accomplish in the first place. Bonnie Root is likeable enough as Stream but is clearly much older than her character and struggles in her attempt to revisit her adolescence. Hoffman and Tricia Vessey don't really register much as the two friends and, with the exception of Roday who simply disappears after the first forty minutes, the male contingent is basically non-existent. Ryan Reynolds of TV's Two Guys,a Girl and a Pizza Place has the thankless role of the nice, sensitive guy who finally gives Stream what she's been looking for. I presume a film like this was meant to pack somewhat of a proverbial femme punch as well, but with all of the misplaced propaganda and shaky characters, it serves up more of a meow than a roar. Finally, I should say that, as a filmaker myself, I am curious to see what this director does next. She clearly has a voice and might benefit from directing someone else's material (she serves as the writer here as well). All things considered though, I think it's fair to say that Coming Soon misses the target but hits the tree...
Review of Coming Soon
