Name: Cheesecake Casserole (2012)
IMDb: link to Cheesecake Casserole page
Genres: Feel bad comedy Country of origin: USA
Cast: Torrey Devitto as Margo, Brit Morgan (True Blood) as Cal, Paige Howard as Jess, Rome Brooks as Avy, Ryan Merriman as Andy (Jess' boyfriend), Stephen Heath as Ronnie (hitchhiker), Louis Herthum as Howard (father of Cal), Rocco Nugent as Rudy (Avy's controlling Christian boyfriend).
Written and directed by: Renji Philip; original stage play by Meghan Gambling.
The Three Acts:
The initial tableaux:
Four coeds get together for a last weekend before graduation, to party and to reminisce. The conversations get interesting, and even more intense after some of the boyfriends join them.
Delineation of conflicts:
The men are depicted as unmitigated jerks. Rudy is a strongly discordant character, that I wish they had bounced early on. The real estate agent with his misspelled realty signs showed another reprehensible male activity: an older man who uses his experience to take advantage of a younger woman. Andy was inarticulate and useless: he wanted Jess to give up a post-doc in France so she would be available to him.
The last opportunities for backbiting are taken.
Resolution: As the film evolves, the women become more self-righteous and rejecting.
One line summary: Sad pre-graduation gathering.
Statistics:
Cinematography: 7/10 Most of the camera work was fine, but there was some overexposure to the point of significant loss of contrast.
Sound: 5/10 The spoken word was out of synch with the actors' mouth movements early on. The incidental music was beyond irritating, especially when it blares out of control. The first two minutes were almost enough to make me stop watching the film.
Acting: 2/10 Actors of a more appropriate age would have been better. I expected better acting from the older cast to make up for the age incongruity. That did not happen.
Screenplay: 5/10 The barrage of anti-male sentiments was next to unrelenting. The sense of resolution was low, the sense of loss definitely higher.
The film generated zero belly laughs, zero chuckles, zero wry smiles for me, so it fails strongly as a comedy. Some of the dramatic elements were better, such as the tough interactions between characters; for example, between Cal and her father. Avy and Rudy interact a lot, but not in any useful way. That seemed to be pain that bore only poisoned fruit.
Final Rating: Five of ten.
IMDb: link to Cheesecake Casserole page
Genres: Feel bad comedy Country of origin: USA
Cast: Torrey Devitto as Margo, Brit Morgan (True Blood) as Cal, Paige Howard as Jess, Rome Brooks as Avy, Ryan Merriman as Andy (Jess' boyfriend), Stephen Heath as Ronnie (hitchhiker), Louis Herthum as Howard (father of Cal), Rocco Nugent as Rudy (Avy's controlling Christian boyfriend).
Written and directed by: Renji Philip; original stage play by Meghan Gambling.
The Three Acts:
The initial tableaux:
Four coeds get together for a last weekend before graduation, to party and to reminisce. The conversations get interesting, and even more intense after some of the boyfriends join them.
Delineation of conflicts:
The men are depicted as unmitigated jerks. Rudy is a strongly discordant character, that I wish they had bounced early on. The real estate agent with his misspelled realty signs showed another reprehensible male activity: an older man who uses his experience to take advantage of a younger woman. Andy was inarticulate and useless: he wanted Jess to give up a post-doc in France so she would be available to him.
The last opportunities for backbiting are taken.
Resolution: As the film evolves, the women become more self-righteous and rejecting.
One line summary: Sad pre-graduation gathering.
Statistics:
Cinematography: 7/10 Most of the camera work was fine, but there was some overexposure to the point of significant loss of contrast.
Sound: 5/10 The spoken word was out of synch with the actors' mouth movements early on. The incidental music was beyond irritating, especially when it blares out of control. The first two minutes were almost enough to make me stop watching the film.
Acting: 2/10 Actors of a more appropriate age would have been better. I expected better acting from the older cast to make up for the age incongruity. That did not happen.
Screenplay: 5/10 The barrage of anti-male sentiments was next to unrelenting. The sense of resolution was low, the sense of loss definitely higher.
The film generated zero belly laughs, zero chuckles, zero wry smiles for me, so it fails strongly as a comedy. Some of the dramatic elements were better, such as the tough interactions between characters; for example, between Cal and her father. Avy and Rudy interact a lot, but not in any useful way. That seemed to be pain that bore only poisoned fruit.
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