Saw this at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
I'm not a fan of Natasha Lyonne but she's a great crazy in this one. Part drugged-out crazy person, part un-inhibited smart-ass, she just seems to smolder on the screen. Maybe smolder is not the right word, but her presence is very powerful. And I don't think that's a mistake because we have to believe that Max (David Krumholtz) could fall in love at first sight with a highly medicated Grace. That he would turn his back on his life-long hobby of aborted suicides because she is his mission, his reason to live. Krumholtz is great. Sometimes he says more about Max's struggle with his crazy, suicidal wife with the raise of his eyebrow then the kinda schmaltzy narration can convey in a full minute of chatter. Add to the mix Tim Blake Nelson, as all of the people Max consults with on the best way to "fix" Grace, and you've got a pretty damn good cast.
That narration, while sometimes funny and well timed, often strayed in an overly-flowery, quasi-Chaucer, poetry, yadda yadda mess and is probably the only this I can fault the film for (and that's Michael Parness' fault since he not only directs but wrote the screenplay). Krumholtz gives it the old college try, but even his little crackly inflection can't help it.
I would warn those with a low-tolerance for sexual content, Max & Grace do it like rabbits. And if you live in Sheybogin, Michagin you might be offended that your town is characterized as the Home of Depression.
I'm not a fan of Natasha Lyonne but she's a great crazy in this one. Part drugged-out crazy person, part un-inhibited smart-ass, she just seems to smolder on the screen. Maybe smolder is not the right word, but her presence is very powerful. And I don't think that's a mistake because we have to believe that Max (David Krumholtz) could fall in love at first sight with a highly medicated Grace. That he would turn his back on his life-long hobby of aborted suicides because she is his mission, his reason to live. Krumholtz is great. Sometimes he says more about Max's struggle with his crazy, suicidal wife with the raise of his eyebrow then the kinda schmaltzy narration can convey in a full minute of chatter. Add to the mix Tim Blake Nelson, as all of the people Max consults with on the best way to "fix" Grace, and you've got a pretty damn good cast.
That narration, while sometimes funny and well timed, often strayed in an overly-flowery, quasi-Chaucer, poetry, yadda yadda mess and is probably the only this I can fault the film for (and that's Michael Parness' fault since he not only directs but wrote the screenplay). Krumholtz gives it the old college try, but even his little crackly inflection can't help it.
I would warn those with a low-tolerance for sexual content, Max & Grace do it like rabbits. And if you live in Sheybogin, Michagin you might be offended that your town is characterized as the Home of Depression.