Drinking Buddies

source: Drinking Buddies

I just finished watching "Drinking Buddies (2013)". It is not an action-packed thriller with super-heroes, war machines, elves, or magic. Nor is it a murder mystery, suspenseful spy adventure, or even a fairy-tale. If you are looking for any of those, go away (plenty of those elsewhere), this is not for you, but if you are game for a much rarer breed of film, stick around. This movie offers a window on the lives of four friends in a way that Hollywood rarely succeeds with such precision as was done here. The story unfolds naturally and as I watched I knew the characters were real. This is a "real" movie about "real" people. I don't mean the plethora of reality programs that convey nothing to the viewer. I mean real in the sense that the emotions, situations, and reactions that occur in the film are those that occur to real people. As I watched, I recognized all of these people from real life. The situations reflect memories, not always my own, but of friends I have known. I laughed, I cried, and I reminisced with the characters as the story unfolded. I have not seen a film in recent history that was so effective at portraying real situations and emotions to the audience. This reflects not only the concept of the Joe Swanberg, but the effectiveness of the actors and actresses who interpreted his concept and brought it to life for us. My hats off to Joe Swanberg and his keenly selected cast of Anna Kendrick, Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Ron Livingston, and the rest of the supporting cast; all of the characters were very real, not just believable. One last note. Don't be fooled by the title, yes this film has a brewery, beer, and lots of drinking, but if you watch this film and think that's what it's all about, you missed everything. This film is about people; the brewery and the beer are just a very good vehicle to tell this story about the people. It is a reminder that good and bad things happen to everyone, and no one is alone. But on that note, if you don't drink, as I don't, be sure to have something, a Monster, Pepsi, glass of water, or cup of tea. You will want/need it before the end, and don't forget a box of tissues. You may not cry, but you will feel the characters' happiness, pain, sadness, and more, and then you might just cry too. A very unique movie watching experience that will be in my permanent collection once available. Nicely done.

"Drinking Buddies," is about the lives of some boring 20 somethings navigating their even more boring relationships, while working at an equally boring brewer. I read the description and thought to myself that this seemed like a decent movie and a set up for some good, funny comedy. I couldn't have been more wrong. It was just plain boring. I get it though. It was made for a certain audience in mind. The problem is that in order to fit the upper middle class urbanite, arrogant, hipster crowd they probably should have based this one in a winery instead of a brewery, but I guess it's OK because it is a micro-brewery... One of the biggest draws to see this movie would have been Olivia Wilde. She is just eye candy that makes almost all movies with her in it worth watching, but for a dialog heavy script, the writing was nauseating and had me yawning within 20 minutes in. If you want to see this movie save a couple of bucks, go to starbucks or any other local coffee shop, buy a Grande, and people watch, it will be more interesting and ultimately cheaper than renting or buying this steaming pile of crapola. Boring!

Now before you judge me as a typical male viewer, I watched this "film" with my wife. We both came to the same conclusion about this film. That is it would be in contention for one of the most boring films ever made. I really couldn't care less about the characters and could not envisage anyone caring about them. I am mystified as to how a big name actress like Olivia Wilde would sign up for this. Seriously - nothing happened. If this is considered a drama, then I would classify as a first world drama, meaning - you don't really have problems/drama but you need to make something bigger than it is because you have nothing else. Literally nothing else. I will never get that hour and a half back in my life and Olivia Wilde isn't even that good looking. Shoulda known better I guess!

Characters lack personality and depth, relationships/attractions lack any sort of intensity or passion or excitement, dialogue is tepid and mundane. Olivia Wilde is beautiful and all, but seeing her polite smile for 75% of the screen time in the movie did nothing for me. The guy from New Girl plays his same character here, and Anna Kendrick plays her same character here. The relationships are awkward and uncomfortable to watch. The supposed attractions are --well-- non-existent. This is probably because everyone has a superficial, work-place attitude towards everyone else, and there is no humanity and depth to their interactions. Only their cutesy, goofy, cool personas are depicted, nothing below that. Therefore, any sort of dialogue other than brief comments or a raising or frowning of the eyebrows is out of place. At one point a character is flirting with another character by bringing up the myth of Sisyphus, and he delivers it so terribly that he embarrassedly smirks at the end. Very boring.

I am all for horrible movies, but this has to be one of the worst waste of 90 minutes ever put on the big screen. If you watch this movie, you are essentially asked to watch 90 mins of 4 people babbling back and forth about nonsense with some social awkwardness sprinkled in. There was never a climax, and after the resolution of what appeared to be the problem in the character's lives, you are left with a big WTF moment. WTF as in.. Why The F did I just watch this pile of crap? My girlfriend and I were actually counting down the minutes til the movie was over, hoping that something would happen to justify us watching it... Then ......... The movie just ends. So I suppose the good thing about this movie was... It wasn't longer, which would have wasted more of our time. HORRIBLE MOVIE.. DON't waste your time. I'm sure a re-watch of Troll 2 or maybe even Smurfs 2 would be time better spent.

I didn't expect to find a deep story though I was hoping to get a fun movie, especially given the fact that the cast included two very likable actresses, Wilde and Kendrick, unfortunately this has to be some of their worst performances. There is no plot or any character development, there is not a single good joke in fact, I didn't even chuckle once. I guess that the whole point of this flick was to depict the life of two friends who work at a brewing company, and let me tell you there's nothing exciting in their world, probably your own life it's way more interesting than what this movie is trying to depict. I'm not a romantic-comedy hater, I love movies and I like to enjoy all kind of genres, so let me be clear with this, there are good romcom movies there are also bad romcom and then there are this type of movies that drives you just to nowhere. I really don't recommend this movie, there's nothing here to enjoy, there is no really a story been told.

Neither bad or approaching anything remotely good, Drinking Buddies is a more an acting improv exercise than a film. There's nothing cinematic here and the small servings of drama and comedy are lost in a film that never finds its purpose to exist. Taking place in a few locations, with no script, the cast does a decent job of keeping this mostly watchable, but with such little substance, the film is practically vapor by the end credits. Drinking Buddies is the kind of quiet film that attempts and almost approaches honesty through its everyday people characters, but watching these people get drunk and flirt feels more and more distancing to the viewer as the film goes on - its getting a small peek at a slice of life from a few very believable, but uninteresting characters. There hits a point that spending time with these people has worn out its welcome and their little story is undeserving of big screen treatment. There's no eye rolling moments here, but it's a dramatic flatline of a film that amounts to being nothing more than a time waster.

When the credits roll, Joe Swanberg's "Drinking Buddies" will at least leave you thirsty. Whether you'll be drinking to toast or drinking to forget is another matter. Regardless in which camp you fall, "Drinking Buddies" is best enjoyed with your favorite craft beer in hand (or several). The story follows Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson), who both work for a new Chicago craft brewery, and their complicated relationship with their significant others and each other. There isn't much to the story: if you're a beer nerd from the Midwest like I am, you might have more fun playing "spot the beer" than keeping an eye on what will happen next. The dramatic tension in this comedy comes from a weekend that Kate and her boyfriend, Chris (Ron Livingston),spend in Michigan with Luke and his girlfriend, Jill (Anna Kendrick). The sexual tension between the male and female counterparts is quite palpable and it drives (slowly) the entire rest of the film. Fans of conventional Hollywood storytelling will likely cite "Drinking Buddies" as why independent films are awful, whereas fans of independent films will commend everything Swanberg does in this movie. It's a natural, true-to-life portrayal of relationships, where the characters live in a fishbowl and we observe them, counting the similarities to our own lives. There is practically no manufactured conflict, just people drinking, talking and trying to make sense of their lives. Swanberg's script sets up situations in which a major conflict between the characters could break out at any second, but the film relies chiefly on its on-screen talent in order to work. Wilde and Johnson have excellent chemistry, to the point where it's almost painful that the story mostly deprives us of that romantic satisfaction. Wilde in particular hasn't given us a performance this raw since she made it big in Hollywood, so to see her give us the full range of the fun-loving but deeply insecure Kate is perhaps the finest takeaway "Drinking Buddies" has to offer. Johnson, on the other hand, while an ideal fit in his role, is mostly operating in familiar territory for anyone who follows him on Fox's comedy "New Girl." Kendrick and Livingston, though technically important to the story, feel secondary to what may or may not happen between Kate and Luke. The depth of character is just not there for Livingston's Chris, or really for Kendrick's Jill either, though Kendrick (as always) makes the most with what she's given. "Drinking Buddies" completely and honestly captures the indefinable nature of contemporary relationships, it just doesn't say anything new about it. You don't need to watch Swanberg's film to see a prime example of the oft-blurred line between Platonic and non-Platonic in a relationship, even if this movie does it particularly well. Similarly, the role that craft beer and beer culture plays in the film feels minimal if not irrelevant. The one idea that can be gleaned is that alcohol accentuates the complication of feelings by releasing impulses that otherwise can be repressed, but that's not exactly visible upon watching. Expert talents and a filmmaker who truly understands relationship dynamics help elevate "Drinking Buddies" above the level of less astute indies that bank more on situational comedy and drama to bolster their themes. Yet the consequence is it hurts the entertainment value to a great degree. "Drinking Buddies" isn't boring, but it's underwhelming despite its strengths. ~Steven C Thanks for reading! Check out moviemusereviews.com for more