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Confusions of an
Unmarried Couple
Directed by: Brett M. Butler and Jason G. Butler
Starring: Naomi M. Johnson
Genre:
Comedy/ Independent
Run Time: 73
min.
Release Date:
June 2007
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Never having seen a Butler
Brothers Production before, I came into this film fresh and with no bias
one way or the other. I’d read both pro and con reviews of their
previous movies (ALIVE AND LUBRICATED, BUMS, etc.) and
thought these zany brothers might be worth checking out. Having received
and watched CONFUSIONS OF AN UNMARRIED COUPLE, I must say that
there are both pro and cons in this one little film and, unfortunately,
the cons tip the scale a bit too much for a positive rating.
The most appealing aspect of the film is undoubtedly the snappy dialogue
and the comedy it contains. Watching Dan (Brett Butler) try to sneak his
old mattress out his ex-girlfriend’s apartment was pretty damn funny
(note: this is attempted while his ex is still in the apartment). His
comment “We need to talk” while peaking out from behind the would-be
stolen mattress is quite hysterical. The downside to the dialogue is its
delivery. Brett may be a fine film maker, but he’s not an actor. His
lines are delivered in queue-card fashion with poor (or little) emotion.
Naomi Johnson as Lisa (his ex) does a more admirable job, using both
good facial contortions and voice modulation to get her side of the
story across.
The fact that this is a story about messed up relationships is old
territory covered many, many times, too. This accompanied by the
continual panning back and forth of the camera during
conversations/arguments makes for an old and stilted feel. I’m sure the
intention was to give the audience the sense that they were the camera,
watching this story unfold, but the effect gets tiring and irritating
after a very short time.
The other sense (for me, at least) was that I was watching a soft-porn
film without the sex. The verbiage was there — the f-word being used
liberally, as well as other profanities — and felt abused/overused
rather than natural flowing dialogue or shocking. I’m no prude and enjoy
the occasional merry chorus of “F-yous”, too, but Confusions of an
Unmarried Couple went overboard.
I understand the budgetary constraints of such a small production and
seriously appreciated what Brett and Jason Butler were doing here. They
just needed to avail themselves of better filming techniques (i.e., not
the continual panning) and find an actor who could play the Dan
character with an edgy style, and I feel almost certain that the film
would’ve received much more praise from me ...and perhaps others.
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Image from Confusions of
an Unmarried Couple
DVD cost: NOT YET AVAILABLE
Purchase: NOT YET AVAILABLE
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The film was shot over one
blistering hot weekend with only the stars, camera operator, and Ryan
Noel as the sound recordist.
Movie Quote: "Can
I have my ring? Or is it lost in that sluts vagina?"
Other Actors/Actresses
from Confusions of an Unmarried Couple
NO IMAGES AVAILABLE |
