Drinking Buddies

Starring: Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, Jason Sudeikis
Directed by: Joe Swanberg
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two flirtatious coworkers (Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde) spend a weekend in the woods with their significant others, which complicates all their relationships.

Review:

Tim: My favorite aspect of Drinking Buddies is that it felt very true-to-life to me. The vast majority of the time, Hollywood tells stories for escapism- to take you away from life, to sweep you off into something outside of the norm. And yet, there is something so important about telling stories that are firmly rooted in reality. This movie is completely believable, and that is its greatest strength. Unfortunately, it's also somewhat limiting as well.

I really do love the overt focus on telling a believable story. This movie feels like it happens every day and could feature people you know. The characters all seemed multidimensional and true-to-life. Most of the characters here actually reminded me of real people I know or knew at various points in my life. That is exceptionally difficult to pull off and this movie does it brilliantly. I love that this film was so intent on not being the typical Hollywood romantic drama. That's refreshing and a major strength.

As I mentioned, it does limit the film as well. Let's face it, life is oftentimes boring and frustrating because we don't get real closure. One of the greatest aspects of watching movies is that we do get to escape life and we get to watch a story that has at least somewhat of a beginning, middle, and end. This film doesn't follow that script, and so it is somewhat unsatisfying as a viewing experience. You watch this movie and you keep waiting for something to happen. Eventually, things do move along, but in the realistic way. The end of the film isn't nearly as satisfying as it should have been. The payoff just isn't there. That hurts the overall movie.

The cast is pretty exceptional. I like Jake Johnson and I think he'll have a long career ahead of him. He has that likeable everyman quality that allows audiences to connect with him. Olivia Wilde was good playing a character that seemed almost too believable. She gave a realistic, complex performance and she seemed like a real person, not a movie character to me. That was impressive. I really like Anna Kendrick and she gave an exceptional performance here. I'm also a huge fan of Ron Livingston, so I'm always excited to see him. These four actors worked really, really well together. The cast- and especially these four- are the chief reason to see this movie.

I definitely wish this worked worked just a little harder to engage the audience. It was focused on telling a realistic, believable story. I just wish it was a little more concerned with telling a great story. Even still, Drinking Buddies is an enjoyable romantic drama. I had fun with the characters and the story and it connected with me on an emotional level. This movie could have certainly been better, but it's a solid film all around.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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