The Trouble With Men & Women (2003/IFC)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C+     Film: B-

 

 

Tony Fisher’s The Trouble With Men & Women (2003) is a short 74 minutes, but it manages to be smarter and more mature and realistic than so many longer, tired, formulaic and pretentious films that think they are honestly addressing adult relationships.  As a matter of fact, one of its only problems is that it is simply not long enough.

 

Matt (Joseph McFadden) has driven his longtime girlfriend and wonders why and what happened.  He has discovered that he has an inability to fully listen to the other side and when he starts dating years later after being in a relationship for so long, he needs all the help he can get and hitting all kinds of obstacles, needs it fast.

 

The comedy/drama by Fisher has some heart and soul, does not hold back about the pitfalls and disorientation about relationships and how the dating scene has become more and more banal for reasons that include more than just The Internet.  The acting is pretty good and when it is predictable, it is because of the sad reality of the matter.  Fisher is a talented filmmaker and we should all hope this DVD gets someone to work with him to get another film made.  He does pretty good with what he has to work with here.

 

The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is much softer than we would have liked, despite the good and surprisingly coherent work of three cinematographers.  Subtitles pour into the lower black bar, meaning 16 X 9 presentations will have limits in playing this back in addition to detail issues.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is simple, without surrounds and shows the sonic limits of the low-budget origins of the production.  That the film is raw and gritty without being stupid, this does not hurt its realism.  The only extra is a short film To Hell With Love that helped to get this one funded and is as nicely written.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo