Another Kickstarter campaign movie, made in Los Angeles by some members of The Groundlings Improv Troop... and funny every single scene is filled with things that will make you laugh.
Neal (Kenny Stevenson) is having a very bad day - he comes home early and finds his wife having sex with his best friend, goes to work and gets chewed out by his boss... so he quits, leaves his car in the company parking lot, and walks across Los Angeles to get back to his apartment...
He spends his days sleeping on his sofa in his underpants feeling sorry for himself. His two other best friends and his wacky next door neighbor come up with a plan to get him back up on his feet - the Craig’s List “Missed Connections” ads where people post things like: “You were driving down the 405 freeway Monday at 2pm in your black Porsche, I’m the blonde girl you passed near the Getty Offramp in the green Hyndai. Call me!” Their scheme is to respond to the ads and set a meet, then when the guy in the bllack Porsche doesn’t show and the blonde girl gets tired of waiting, Neal comes over and says “I would never have stood you up” and gets them on the rebound for a night of casual sex. And this *works*! Neal is having all kinds of sex with all kinds of women and beginning to get over his heartbreak... when he is “stood up” several times when the missed connections girl doesn’t show... but the same woman is always near the meet location spying. Who is she?
Jane (Dorien Davies) who has also had her heart broken and is posting *fake* missed connection ads in order to stand up random men to get revenge on the times that she has been stood up! When Neal finally confronts her it’s hate at first sight... and the war begins.
The great thing about casting a bunch of comedians is that they not only have amazing delivery of written lines, they may actually come up with a variation on the written line that is funnier still. Every single character - no matter how small - has funny lines, so there is always something to laugh at... and an amusing and memorable character. Neal’s brother-in-law is only in a couple of scenes - but makes a great impression!
MISSED CONNECTIONS is consistently funny - and a rom-com that I haven’t seen before. When the war begins it’s as if the Road Runner and Wylie Coyote were in a rom-com! The characters and situations and dialogue are great - and for a film shot on a *very* low budget it looks like a big Hollywood movie. This deserves a release in the USA. My fear is that they will do that buy it, shelve it, and remake it thing that often results in the watered down and not as funny studio version... just with big stars. One of the reasons why MISSED CONNECTIONS works is that the actors are all *comedians* and funnier than Jennifer Aniston and whoever they might cast in the male lead.
An Excerpt From "Missed Connections" from Eric Kissack on Vimeo.
AFTERWARDS: I did the Q&A with the two leads Kenny and Dorien, who are actually husband and wife, and the producer Lisa Rudin and asked about using Kickstarter and crowd funding in general and how you get that many amazing Los Angeles locations with no money. Also how you find all of these funny people to play small roles. And doing it yourself as a way to make the film *you* want to make instead of waiting for Hollywood to come knocking at your door. As usual, the lesson in all of this is - JUST DO IT!
- Bill
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