Mark (Rupert Graves) is addicted to everything. Booze...yes, please. Drugs...absolutely. Sex...yes, please, twice. His estranged wife Jane (Jennifer Tilly) follows him to London to stage an intervention with the help of married shrinks (Colm Feore and Andi McDowell). Mark is whisked away to Vista Clara, a spiritual drug rehabilitation retreat, in the American southwest. The film picks up during the facility's family week, when both Jane and Mark's new plastic girl-toy, Pamela, show up to participate.
The performances are A-mazing...especially Tilly, who, once again, proves what Hollywood has so egregiously ignored for twenty years--she's a really, REALLY great actress and not the one-note bimbette mainstream studios repeatedly cast her as. Graves is fantastic as the seemingly remorseless Mark. Colm Feore is, as usual, a very consistent, grounded performer. And, the big shocker for me, Andi McDowell is actually quite good, too.
There are some problems, though. The other "patients" are a bit one-dimensional, and two of them (Sara and Harry) are never really "fleshed out" enough for us to care about them. The Australian(?) duo's relationship had a lot of potential--very funny, quirky--but that's only explored halfway as well. All in all, most of the time, I found myself just wanting the film to steer back to the Mark-Jane relationship.
Most of the positive credit for this film goes to the actors who improvised the whole thing, and the cinematographer who took advantage of the beautiful winter desert backdrop. Sometimes, however, it seems that director Mary McGuckian goes a bit over the top to prove the film's "indie-ness"...note the last five minutes of camera spin-shots around the principal characters.
Watch this film for Jennifer Tilly. It'll have you cursing Hollywood for turning her into a poker pro.
The performances are A-mazing...especially Tilly, who, once again, proves what Hollywood has so egregiously ignored for twenty years--she's a really, REALLY great actress and not the one-note bimbette mainstream studios repeatedly cast her as. Graves is fantastic as the seemingly remorseless Mark. Colm Feore is, as usual, a very consistent, grounded performer. And, the big shocker for me, Andi McDowell is actually quite good, too.
There are some problems, though. The other "patients" are a bit one-dimensional, and two of them (Sara and Harry) are never really "fleshed out" enough for us to care about them. The Australian(?) duo's relationship had a lot of potential--very funny, quirky--but that's only explored halfway as well. All in all, most of the time, I found myself just wanting the film to steer back to the Mark-Jane relationship.
Most of the positive credit for this film goes to the actors who improvised the whole thing, and the cinematographer who took advantage of the beautiful winter desert backdrop. Sometimes, however, it seems that director Mary McGuckian goes a bit over the top to prove the film's "indie-ness"...note the last five minutes of camera spin-shots around the principal characters.
Watch this film for Jennifer Tilly. It'll have you cursing Hollywood for turning her into a poker pro.