20130917: Comedy Review--Fairhaven

Fairhaven

1. Fundamentals
1. American live action feature length film, 2012, NR, 81 minutes, comedy, drama.
2. IMDB: 5.1/10.0 from 278 users.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 56% on the meter; 31% from 144 audience ratings.
4. Directed by: Tom O'Brien.  Screenplay by Tom O'Brien and Chris Messina.
5. Starring: Sara Paulson as Kate, Chris Messina as Dave, Rich Sommer as Sam, Alexie Gilmore as Angela, Tom O'Brien as Jon.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Jon, a former high school football star returns home to the small fishing village of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.  He was an arrogant, useless jerk in high school, and returns a failed, arrogant, useless jerk.
2. We start with layer upon layer of cliché.  Will there be any evolution, or is this just another fouled up, self-regarding 'feel bad comedy'?
3. Dave is back from Arizona to talk to old friends and catch up with his mother.
4. Jon is trying to get into something new, perhaps writing.  He arranges to quit his fishing job as soon as he can find a replacement.  He's in two kinds of therapy.
5. The obligatory drunken barroom and getting high scenes are just as boring as one might expect.  Jon, Dave, and Sam are not any better at it than any one else.
6. Sam has stayed in Fairhaven (as opposed to Jon and Dave), has gotten married, had a daughter, got a divorce, and dealt with the break up.  Nobody seems to be any happier than anyone else.
7. The funeral for Dave's father was nicely awkward.
8. The ending was flat, rather like the rest of the film.


3. Conclusions
1. It's usually bad (Good Will Hunting notwithstanding) when the screenwriters are also stars.
2. One sentence summary: Skip this film unless you like self-important feel bad comedies.
3. Two stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Exceptionally lovely shooting, especially the exteriors.  Depth of field is shallow for the interiors to isolate the character to focus on, showing a nice level of control.  Framing and color saturation are great.


2. Sound: 8/10 Occasionally the music was blaring.


3. Acting: 4/10 The performances are all too often from the 'smile, show how cool you are' school of non-involvement.  Boring, non-engaging.  I liked Chris Messina in Argo and in 28 Hotel Rooms but not this one, not by a long shot.


4. Screenplay: 4/10 Stupid premise, bad execution, boring; not aided by immature actors.