Jay Duplass

THE BALTIMORONS: vulnerability, recovery, good-hearted laughs

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Photo caption: Liz Larsen and Michael Strassner in THE BALTIMORONS. Courtesy of IFC.

Here’s the perfect film for the family to watch on Thanksgiving Weekend (after the littlest kids have gone to bed). In the goodhearted and witty comedy The Baltimorons, a cracked tooth sends a guy to an emergency dentist and launches them into a nighttime adventure through Baltimore that could result in romance. It’s a funny movie about second chances.

Each of them faces a very problematic invitations. Cliff (Michael Strassner) has been sober for a few months, but he hasn’t found work. His lack of resources and his failed suicide attempt have left him in an unhealthy power imbalance with his girlfriend. He’s got to choose between his promised appearance at the girlfriend’s family holiday gathering and the chance to perform again at a pop-up comedy show organized by his buddies. Problem is, he is terrified that he can’t be funny without drinking.

The dentist Didi (Liz Larsen), in contrast, has a strong business and owns a nice home. But she’s personally reeling from her divorce, which has left her lonely and gashed a hole in her confidence. Didi is suffering the humiliation of a courtesy invite to the Christmas party hosted by her ex-husband and his new wife. So, we have two talented people in moment pf vulnerability and recovery. An impounded car sends them out together, and comic situations ensue.

What happens is funny, but The Baltimorons succeeds because of its humanity – we really care about Cliff and Didi.

Cliff and Didi would make an unlikely romantic pairing. He’s already in a serious relationship, after all. She is significantly older, and more well-educated. She’s highly functional, and he’s a floundering goof.

The Baltimorons reflects the sharp comic sensibility of writer-director Jay Duplass. With his brother Mark, Duplass wrote and directed Baghead, Cyrus and Jeff Who Lives at Home, and has since been busy directing/producing in television and acting (Transparent, Lynn Shelton’s Outside In). This is the first feature he has directed since 2012. At its world premiere, The Baltimorons won the Best Narrative Feature award at SXSW.

I saw The Baltimorons at its third public screening, at the SLO Film Fest with Jay Duplass in attendance. It won the SLO Film Fest’s Best of Fest. It’s now available to stream from Amazon, AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango.

OUTSIDE IN: she finds herself finally ready

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Edie Falco in OUTSIDE IN

The fine director Lynn Shelton has died at age 54. Shelton’s drama Outside In begins when a man (Jay Duplass of Transparent) returns to his small town community after 20 years in prison.  Having been incarcerated since he was a teenager, he’s a bit emotionally stunted; he was a good kid who is now trying to be a good man.  He tries to negotiate his way among his not-so-supportive family, some former friends who share a secret and suspicious townspeople.

He’s free only because of a persistent campaign for justice by one of his high school teachers (Edie Falco).  The case has been an obsession for the teacher, much to annoyance of her blue-collar husband.  Now that the campaign has ended, the teacher must fill that vacuum with another passion.

There isn’t much passion in her marriage.  Shelton brilliantly depicts a husband who has expectations of their relationship and their future – he just doesn’t communicate them to his wife, or check to see if those expectations are shared.  He’s not a terrible person, and the relationship isn’t abusive – it’s just lapsed into staleness.

The freed convict and the teacher are comforted by each other.  There are several ways that this story could go, several of them trite.  Let’s just say that Shelton takes us in some unpredictable directions, while maintaining  authenticity.

Outside In is a story of self-discovery.  The teacher must assess what will make her happy and make some hard choices.  In a tour de force, Falco takes us through her confusion, dissatisfaction, longing, passion and, finally, determination.

Kaitlin Dever (Justified) is also excellent as the teacher’s teen daughter.  Outside In is an acting showcase for Falco, Duplass and Dever. Falco’s performance, however, is stunning.

I saw Outside In before its release at Silicon Valley’s Cinema Club.  It can be streamed on Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

Stream of the Week: OUTSIDE IN: she finds herself finally ready

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Edie Falco in OUTSIDE IN

The fine Lynn Shelton drama Outside In begins when a man (Jay Duplass of Transparent) returns to his small town community after 20 years in prison.  Having been incarcerated since he was a teenager, he’s a bit emotionally stunted; he was a good kid who is now trying to be a good man.  He tries to negotiate his way among his not-so-supportive family, some former friends who share a secret and suspicious townspeople.

He’s free only because of a persistent campaign for justice by one of his high school teachers (Edie Falco).  The case has been an obsession for the teacher, much to annoyance of her blue-collar husband.  Now that the campaign has ended, the teacher must fill that vacuum with another passion.

There isn’t much passion in her marriage.  Shelton brilliantly depicts a husband who has expectations of their relationship and their future – he just doesn’t communicate them to his wife, or check to see if those expectations are shared.  He’s not a terrible person, and the relationship isn’t abusive – it’s just lapsed into staleness.

The freed convict and the teacher are comforted by each other.  There are several ways that this story could go, several of them trite.  Let’s just say that Shelton takes us in some unpredictable directions, while maintaining  authenticity.

Outside In is a story of self-discovery.  The teacher must assess what will make her happy and make some hard choices.  In a tour de force, Falco takes us through her confusion, dissatisfaction, longing, passion and, finally, determination.

Kaitlin Dever (Justified) is also excellent as the teacher’s teen daughter.  Outside In is an acting showcase for Falco, Duplass and Dever. Falco’s performance, however, is stunning.

I saw Outside In before its release at Silicon Valley’s Cinema Club.  It can be streamed on Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.