Name: Shades of Ray (2008)
IMDb: link to Shades of Ray page
Genres: Drama Country of origin: USA
Cast: Zachary Levi as Ray, Sarah Shahi as Sana Khaliq, Bonnie Somerville as Noel Wilson, Fran Kranz as Sal Garfinkle, Kathy Baker as Janet Rehman, Brian George as Javaid Rehman.
Written and directed by: Jaffar Mahmood.
The Three Acts
The initial tableaux:
Ray grew up in New Jersey, but moves away to Los Angeles.
Ray is engaged to Noel, and asks her to marry her. She delays giving him an answer until after she comes back from a vacation with her parents.
Delineation of conflicts:
Ray's father moves in with him, and soon talks him into having dinner with Sana and her parents.
Noel calls him and says yes. Ray continues seeing Sana. Oi. Ray's mother comes out. Noel comes by when Ray is working at the bar, and the parents are both at Ray's house. Sana stops by the bar and tries to seduce Ray in the men's room. What could possibly go wrong, and could it be fixed?
Resolution:
Ray has to make a decision. Can he make one and stay with it?
One sentence summary: The protagonist's trajectory resembles that of a pinball.
Statistics:
Cinematography: 7/10 Usually competent, but often just barely.
Sound: 7/10 Occasionally badly miked.
Acting: 6/10 Good except for Fran Kranz. The other actors counterbalance his badness, but he's still obnoxious.
Screenplay: 6/10 Moves along logically, except for the intervals that contain Fran Kranz.
Final Rating: 6/10
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