Tribeca 2014: Maggie Grace's About Alex Review

About Alex: Tribeca Review

The Bottom Line

Likeable but extremely familiar reunion tale.

Venue

Tribeca Film Festival, Spotlight

Cast

Nate Parker, Jason Ritter, Maggie Grace, Max Greenfield, Aubrey Plaza, Max Minghella, Jane Levy

Director-Screenwriter

Jesse Zwick

Jason Ritter plays a young man whose attempted suicide prompts a reunion of college friends.

NEW YORK — A crisis-reunion film that accepts its unoriginality and even takes some pleasure in acknowledging it, Jesse Zwick's About Alex gathers together a half-dozen thirtyish schoolmates for some bonding after one of them, Jason Ritter's title character, tries to kill himself. Unambitious but amiable, it benefits from the presence of familiar talents including Aubrey Plaza, many of whom have enough name-recognition value from series TV to increase chances reaching a non-fest audience.

In a film that makes some half-hearted stabs at a critique of social-media addiction -- most via the group's resident fuddy-duddy Josh, an academic played overbearingly by Max Greenfield -- the action starts with a tweet that's mildly hard to believe: Instead of leaving a note, Adam gets in his warm bath fully dressed, prepares his straight razor, and sends out a cryptic quote from Romeo and Juliet instead of a goodbye.

Word of the attempt spreads, though, the old-fashioned way, as old pals from the dorm phone each other anxiously. While Alex recuperates in the hospital, they make their way from New York and elsewhere to his big house upstate, ready to comfort him and, as Plaza's Sarah insists, make sure he's never alone long enough to hurt himself again.

Seeds of non-suicide drama are planted on cue: Longtime couple Ben and Siri (Nate Parker and Maggie Grace) may be tugged apart by a hard-to-reject job offer that would require her to move; Sarah is threatened by the 22 year-old girlfriend (Jane Levy) that Isaac (Max Minghella) unexpectedly brought for the weekend; Josh is as judgmental of his selling-out friends as he is envious of their achievements and attachments. But nothing prevents the chums from enjoying each other's company in all the usual ways: good-natured teasing, rifling through old records, hugs and joints and "I always wanted you to make a move on me" surprise confessions.

Right about the time someone asks "what happened to us?" and the response is "we got serious," another character just up and admits what was hinted earlier with a Jeff Goldblum reference. "This is like one of those '80s movies," she declares, referring of course to The Big Chill and its ilk. But if she spent much time at today's film festivals, she might have said it's "like one of those many indies where actors who seem a little bit young for this sort of thing enact a story that's just like one of those '80s movies."

There's nothing new under the sun, but About Alex is very, very not new. Luckily, most of its capable cast musters the warmth we require, and Zwick's script offers more humor (however mild the laughs are) than sentimentality. At least he doesn't try to do for the music of this generation's college years what The Big Chill did for Motown. Other filmmakers have tried that trick recently, and it's one Zwick wisely decided not to repeat.

‘About Alex’ Review: Call It ‘The Medium Chill’ For the Twitter Generation

The film drives amiably on until its predictably – but wholly necessary – drama-filled third act, as a series of upheavals and revelations mix things up to a mostly believable and never over-the-top climax. About Alex does, however, make a few missteps in its final act, mainly centered around the tired trope that holds that all of these people secretly want to sleep with each other, or at least turn to each other for physical and sexual comfort, no matter how wholly inappropriate it may be. There’s no question that Zwick’s film needed one last big dramatic push to get it to its finale, but it would have been far more exciting and compelling if he didn’t do it by way of such a bland twist. Despite those final disappointments, it’s still a satisfying and sweet debut film that will likely only get better with age (just like those eighties films).
The Upside: Solid performances, particularly from Jason Ritter, Aubrey Plaza, and Max Greenfied; a fresh take on a seemingly played out plotline; charmingly self-aware; injects modern issues of connection and connectivity without feeling forced; satisfying without being sentimental.
The Downside: The film’s third act is too predictable, Max Minghella is given little to do, the dramatic meat of the film is meted out in unequal portions (Nate Parker is really shouldering the tough stuff here), some lines feel as if they could be plucked from any number of other films.
On the Side: The film is Zwick’s feature debut (and, yes, his father is who you think he is), and the only other credit he has on IMDb is a very fun one: he penned an episode of Parenthood back in 2012.

About Alex Movie Review

The film is pleasant enough and its cast (especially Max Greenfield) is good enough, but it seems that “About Alex” is merely enough. There’s nothing more (or less) than its face value and superficial themes. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it goes to show that the Millennial Generation is mostly surface level. Is that what Zwick was going for with “About Alex?” A showcase for a generation that is still lost with no ambitions living in the ruins of an economic downfall? But for all of its flaws, “About Alex” is a smart and entertaining movie. If you’re of a certain age, it will make you nostalgic for your college years of eating ramen and listening to Arcade Fire.

Roger
Maggie Grace and Mary Elizabeth Winstead appeared to share more than a distaste for nudity. Both girls are in a movie with "Alex' in the title. Premiering at the same time at Tribeca. Romanced on-screen by token black characters. 

Gorgeous babes are segueing to small screen. Maggie has flitted in and out of boob tube since 'LOST' while MEW stayed away from any TV-stints after WOLF LAKE. 

Maggie is 31 this year and as much as she is perfect for cable show nudity with her long legs and slender frame with pretentious approach (she can't help it. Just like me, the insecurity that stays with you for life being a high-school drop out despite carving out a comfortable career) to acting, she's going to give a network series one big shot before she waives her non-nudity (the frontal kind) clause. Hopefully before she is 35. I've a lot riding on Maggie showing her cute boobs. It's one bet I can ill afford to lose.

An unexpected upheaval in personal life for MEW to break down, to come undone. To break out of her suffocating conservative shell  before she can be cajoled into nudity on-cam. She's headlining ABC series EXPOSED with GoT latest sensation Pedro Pascal the love interest. Assuming the dude isn't gay, it's time for MEW to savor some Latin heat, take them deep into her loins. Sorry, Riley. To be fair, she won't be straying far from Texas dickland. Only replacing the white one with brown. Ben Barnes is also in the cast. We all know how American girls go gaga over limey accent.

UPDATED 04/21/2014

Tribeca Review: 'About Alex' Starring Aubrey Plaza, Nate Parker, Jason Ritter And Max Greenfield

Alex's best friend appears to be Ben (Nate Parker), an unrealized writing prodigy who is still struggling with his in-the-works novel while girlfriend Siri (Maggie Grace) pursues academia. This is a typical subplot, though it's impossible to understate how Parker smolders in this role. He seems like the only real grown-up amongst the men: Alex is boyish, Isaac is a tone-deaf capitalist jerk, and Josh is a class-A dillweed in tweed who can't help but pontificate about how rotten the world is. He doesn't need to do much for his dialogue to hit. You do wish there would be some acknowledgement that he's playing the “black friend” since these films all have one (Anthony Mackie played the role in “10 Years”), but Parker himself seems like he's in a different, more powerful film. His dissatisfaction isn't self-pitying, but ultimately attractive: when he wears only a tee-shirt, he reminds of the confidence shown by Denzel Washington in Carl Franklin's “Devil In A Blue Dress." At one point he gets into a car, and you wish he'd keep driving.