August 5-11, 2004

movie shorts

New Movie Shorts

OPEN WATER

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

A movie where Carly Simon saves the day can't be all bad. But while Nick Hurran's romantic comedy scoots off in some peculiar directions, it's more intriguing than successful. Brittany Murphy is hoping her new associate-producing gig for sleazy daytime-talk-show host Kippie Kann (Kathy Bates) will lead to a job with Diane Sawyer. When she stumbles on boyfriend Ron Livingston's Palm, Murphy can't help but peek. And then she blabs her concerns to co-worker Holly Hunter; namely, he keeps beach-bikini pictures of an ex (Julianne Nicholson), shares dog custody with another (Rashida Jones) and hasn't quite told the truth about sex with a third, supermodel Josie Maran. You might imagine she'd, you know, talk to the boyfriend, but Murphy digs herself into a deep hole of deception and stress. The talk-show background (so-called "reality") provides grist for moralizing, but the film's most original aspect is its focus on the Hunter-Murphy friendship, to the point that Livingston is actually absent for most of the picture. This plot point also allows Murphy time for a brief flirtation with coffee-shop clerk Gavin McGregor Rossdale, apparently taking a cue from wife Gwen Stefani's career expansion: and yes, he's very cute. --Cindy Fuchs (Bridge; UA Grant; UA Riverview)

OPEN WATER

Sundance buzz, why do you do me wrong? Dropping a feuding couple (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis) into shark-infested waters, Chris Kentis and Laura Lau's debut (he writes and directs, she produces, and they share the unimpressive DV photography) strives to mix brains and thrills, and nails neither. Kentis' portrait of a marriage is paper-thin — he resents her job, she withholds sex — and quickly falls apart once the couple takes their vacation dive. Left behind on the open sea, the two fight (who wouldn't?) and the sharks start to close in. (Rarely has the phrase "troubled waters" been conveyed so literally.) The fact that this wet-brained non-thriller was lauded at what's supposed to be the country's premier showcase for "independent" film just reveals how meaningless the term has become. --Sam Adams (Ritz East; Ritz 16)