Monday, September 24, 2018

The Boy Downstairs (2017)

I can't really recommend this story of a millennial woman and her relationship, during and after. I never warmed up to the heroine Diana and the ending didn't make sense.

Zosia Mamet (covered in Wiener-Dog) works hard as Diana, as does Matthew Shear (I've seen some of his work but don't remember him in them) as boyfriend and then ex-boyfriend Ben. Deirdre O'Connor (ditto, though she looked familiar) is warm as Diana's landlady/friend/mentor Amy and Deborah Offner (quite familiar, though not as much for her work--she's been in Crossing Delancey (1988), one episode of thirtysomething, three of Six Feet Under, a small part in Black Swan, and one episode each of High Maintenance, Orange Is the New Black, and The Jim Gaffigan show--but for the fact that she was in my elementary school class in New York City) is protective as Ben's mother. I didn't identify Sarah Ramos (60 episodes of Parethood as Maddie Braverman) but still enjoyed her curt portrayal of Meg. Diana Irvine (new to me) brings much-needed comic relief as Diana's BFF Gabby.

Director/writer Sophie Brooks makes her feature debut after one short film. Original music is by David Buckley (last blogged for The Nice Guys). No tracks, original or otherwise, are available online, and I remember little, since this was the first of three movies I watched in a row on Air France returning from Europe a month ago.

Though Rotten Tomatoes' critics average is 63% and its audiences' 43, today I've read several rave reviews--one of them calls Mamet's character "charismatic." To see whose opinion you believe you can watch it on HBO or rent or buy (!) it on Amazon or iTunes.

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