When four couples meet up for their regular Sunday brunch it becomes particularly interesting when a series of ‘dirty bombs’ are set off downtown forcing them to stay in the home awaiting the end.
How does one begin reviewing a film like this. Even writing the above boring (and apt one line) synopsis feels like I’m just reaching for a starting point. It’s like I’m sitting at the table and grasping for words to start the conversation. This film is a ridiculous comedy that relies soley on the bits that the film develops as we see this small group of people devolve from the kind sociable people that they usually to the ‘fuck it’ rantings and ravings that we get as the clock ticks down and they become more and more on edge.
So is it funny? Yes, and oh so much yes. I love most of all how some things are hinted at in conversations that the film already understands that we know is the beginning of a crazed rabit hole and leaves it there for us to enjoy thinking about how deep it goes rather than trying to pay off on what would only be a disappointing reality of it. One good point is where Tracy (Julia Stiles) is talking about her previous ‘crazy’ boyfriend and telling the story of how she first discovered him to crazy we see the girls listening to the conversation pick up on a detail and the moment they point at it we are privy to an awkward pause — the calm before the storm — and then we quickly cut away from the story because the gag is done. We get it. We know that this is going to devolve quickly into lunacy and enjoy the thought of that beginning point so much that the rest is unnecessary.
This film shares a lot with something like Carnage. We basically allow this tight space to rule our characters and let it just go. We as the audience then take pleasure in the psychologically scarring experience that is the last moments of these characters as if we are ourselves pushing their buttons.