I found this movie fascinating. I just happened upon it while flipping through the channels and soon became glued to it. I've watched it twice and have been looking for it to purchase.
I loved the character study of the main characters: Max, a guy with loose morals and a questionable conscience; Kira, a girl looking for something more in her life--both romantically as well as professionally; Sarah, Max's loving girlfriend who works at helping heroin-addicted schizophrenics; and assorted pseudo-intellectual friends that attempt to understand and/or support their friends.
Max dislikes his job working for a senator and questions his conscience for continuing to do so. He's in a three-year-long relationship with Sarah, a decent, respectable person that apparently loves Max despite his failings. Max seems kind of lost, like he's looking for something in his life, but he doesn't know what. He's just kind of going through the motions in life. Then Max meets Kira, a girl that has just broken up with her long-time boyfriend, and the two hook up.
Kira's trying to get a copy editing job, a position for which she is apparently overqualified. She left her job of five years after experiencing frustration at being mistaken for the only other black girl in the office. She seems aimless, restless, searching for something that's missing in her life. She even toys with the idea of moving to Italy for a year. Kira hooks up with a couple more guys, none of whom she's at all interested in.
Max and Kira have mutual friends and keep ending up on group dates. Kira learns that Max has a girlfriend when they meet again at a bar where an unsuspecting Sarah buys Kira a drink. Max seems more interested in pursuing either another dalliance or some sort of relationship with Kira than Kira is in hooking up with Max again. They're both looking for something missing in their lives, but unsure of what it is they want.
SPOILER ALERT:
This has one of the saddest endings I've ever seen. Sarah finds a used condom wrapper in Max's bathroom while hunting for bandages to fix up Max's bike injury. She is obviously extremely hurt and you think she's going to break up with the unsuspecting Max, but she doesn't. She just wipes away her tears and goes in the kitchen to bandage Max's wound. Not revealing her true feelings, she starts discussing the tickets they must purchase to fly to Ohio in two weeks. Sarah reminisces about some event they'd shared with Max's family in the past. She remarks that he was undiplomatic towards his mother and this tells you a lot about what kind of a guy Max is as well as how Sarah feels about him. You know Sarah loves Max unconditionally, the way a mother loves a child. She's going to love him and care for him regardless of his somewhat emotional detachment toward her.
I loved the character study of the main characters: Max, a guy with loose morals and a questionable conscience; Kira, a girl looking for something more in her life--both romantically as well as professionally; Sarah, Max's loving girlfriend who works at helping heroin-addicted schizophrenics; and assorted pseudo-intellectual friends that attempt to understand and/or support their friends.
Max dislikes his job working for a senator and questions his conscience for continuing to do so. He's in a three-year-long relationship with Sarah, a decent, respectable person that apparently loves Max despite his failings. Max seems kind of lost, like he's looking for something in his life, but he doesn't know what. He's just kind of going through the motions in life. Then Max meets Kira, a girl that has just broken up with her long-time boyfriend, and the two hook up.
Kira's trying to get a copy editing job, a position for which she is apparently overqualified. She left her job of five years after experiencing frustration at being mistaken for the only other black girl in the office. She seems aimless, restless, searching for something that's missing in her life. She even toys with the idea of moving to Italy for a year. Kira hooks up with a couple more guys, none of whom she's at all interested in.
Max and Kira have mutual friends and keep ending up on group dates. Kira learns that Max has a girlfriend when they meet again at a bar where an unsuspecting Sarah buys Kira a drink. Max seems more interested in pursuing either another dalliance or some sort of relationship with Kira than Kira is in hooking up with Max again. They're both looking for something missing in their lives, but unsure of what it is they want.
SPOILER ALERT:
This has one of the saddest endings I've ever seen. Sarah finds a used condom wrapper in Max's bathroom while hunting for bandages to fix up Max's bike injury. She is obviously extremely hurt and you think she's going to break up with the unsuspecting Max, but she doesn't. She just wipes away her tears and goes in the kitchen to bandage Max's wound. Not revealing her true feelings, she starts discussing the tickets they must purchase to fly to Ohio in two weeks. Sarah reminisces about some event they'd shared with Max's family in the past. She remarks that he was undiplomatic towards his mother and this tells you a lot about what kind of a guy Max is as well as how Sarah feels about him. You know Sarah loves Max unconditionally, the way a mother loves a child. She's going to love him and care for him regardless of his somewhat emotional detachment toward her.