Cid’s got it all going for him, a job, a house, and a beautiful girlfriend…life is a little bit of all right. The End… No, not at all sorry that just wouldn’t make for a good movie now, would it? Instead on the night before their 15th dating anniversary Cid’s girlfriend Trisha decides that she’s waited long enough for Cid to grow up and propose When Cid presents her with a pair of earrings instead of a ring she decides enough is enough and leaves him. Fast forward to one year later, Cid is stuck, he’s down in a serious rut with nothing but his newly acquired three legged dog and his friends to get him out. Cid is now facing the fact that he’s single, in his thirties, and he’s realizing just how scary that is. Add to that the fact that he’s only had one girlfriend since high school and you have a guy that is ill prepared to face the wild jungles of the modern dating scene. Thankfully he has good friends to fill in the gaps and help him along the way whether it’s obscene goofball ladies man, Manolis or the Hallmark couple Myron and Shannon. The true test will come in the form of Cid finally getting over Trisha and moving on completely with his life.
It’s hard to know what to expect when you sit down to watch a low budget movie. Sometimes it’s people with no talent and a little bit of money who just want to say they made a film, then there’s the people who are just starting out and making their way with little more than determination and talent. You hope for the latter and thankfully in this film that’s what you get. John Campea proves with his first feature film that he’s got a real talent for dialogue and humor, while it may border on obscene at times it’s consistently funny and never over the line. One scene about a “What would you rather” situation in prison comes to mind as really bringing the funny. There’s a great dynamic between all of the characters who share a back and forth in the film, and some great side situations to bring some levity to scenes that may otherwise be all emotion or talk. I was going to save this for last but I’ll go ahead and talk about the best part of the film now, it’s real. As you watch this movie you can really feel the emotion and honest to the life situations that the characters are in. This is not a by the book romantic comedy where guy meets girl, has a problem, fixes said problem, all live happily ever after. I respect the hell out of this movie for not doing what you expect it to do and telling the story the way it would have really unfolded with no Hollywood glam over it. Speaking of Hollywood glam let me just say Kudos to Mr/Mrs. Casting Director on assembling the most beautiful set of women I have ever seen on a movie of this scale. Each one of the main female characters carries a natural beauty that adds to the realness of the film beauty. Even the performances, which are notorious for lacking in lower budget films, were pretty damn good for the most part. While a few lines are delivered a bit too over the top or stiff the bulk of the film showcased folks that can really act. To jump back to the writing I can honestly say that the film doesn’t flinch from delivering real emotional content when the time is right. There’s a fine line between beautiful dialogue and schmaltzy writing but Campea manages to stay flowing on the right side of that duo. One scene in particular comes to mind where the meaning of real love is explained between two friends in such a clear way you’ll slap yourself for not thinking of it first! The music in the film was also a big point scorer with me. It’s all of the indie rock variety but I’ll be damned if I didn’t like every song I heard, and not only that but they fit the scenes they were in perfectly. If this movie had a soundtrack I would definitely have it on my purchase list.
So was this the best movie of its kind? No, it’s not perfect even if the good outweighs the bad. As I said earlier some of the performances, the character of Manolis in particular, are somewhat lacking. Whether it’s from overacting, rigidity, or a just plain bad read some of the scenes pull you slightly out of the movie because of the delivery. The jokes in the film are about a 70/30 mix of good to bad. Obviously not every joke hits with every person, the real problem here is that most of the jokes could be considered offensive so when they miss it’s just uncomfortable and somewhat awkward. There are also some small segments of the film that just seem to be trying too hard to be edgy but this really just ties into my last comment. Honestly I can say that other than these few things I’m at a loss for any negative aspects of this movie.
My final verdict, you ask? ‘The Anniversary’ is a completely enjoyable film that gives you an honest look at real life and love while still managing to be really funny. Hat’s off to the entire cast and especially John Campea for creating something so enjoyable on such a low budget. I would fully recommend that you skip the next generic romantic comedy that Hollywood has to offer and instead take a look at ‘The Anniversary’, some real creativity that works outside of the otherwise impenetrable box of big studio romantic comedies.
3.5 out of 5 Guttenberg’s
