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First, the Recap:
Oops, she did it….AGAIN??!! As the popular concept we have heard countless time states: “Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it”. This tends to occur when we’ve found ourselves consistently tending to arrive at a particular place that we’ve tread before, in similar circumstances, with the same results ensuing, as if any of those previous instances didn’t remotely teach us anything we paid heed to, and hence, the statement above. But, perhaps FINALLY, we’ve found a way out of this recurrent cycle and will find what we’re seeking–right? For the, um, strongly persuasive young woman named Ellie (Amy Radloff), the past is behind and it’s time to find the man of her dreams via the online dating arena. Upon meeting Josh (Tony Falk), it’s an awkward but promising situation. At least until his tyrannical ex Tara (Julia Farrell) decides to make an appearance and well–third time always brings harm, I mean, CHARM–right?
Next, my Mind:
It’s been an admittedly long three year wait for this critic since reviewing the last installment of this absolutely awesome indie short film series from writer/director/producer Mikeal Burgin, producers Dane Bingenheimer, Lou Bolster, Bradley Cerny, and Nathaniel K Wilson, co-producers Ryan Buck, Chris Bullajian, Tony Falk, Candace Hayes, Haley Jacobsen, and Joshua Yablonski plus executive producer Beth Hinde, and folks let me be the first to say, it was SO WORTH THE WAIT!! Carried off with the same level of intelligently written, brilliantly uncomplicated, beautifully engaging magnitude of intentionally slow burn (but still well paced), tensioned-filled build up the previous and first film in the series delivered, this newest project puts such a PERFECT cap on the trilogy while still leaving you wanting MORE thanks to the deftly presented mix of dark comedy, grounded drama, and straight-up thriller centered on what I would say should now be everyone’s favorite single, white, don’t “F” with me female and her precarious proclivity for ending relationships—abruptly.
Suffice it to say, one will never look at being unable to open a bottle of wine, sharing supposedly genuine, heartfelt compliments with your date, and the notion of “brain pain” the same again thanks to this narrative that finds the aforementioned intrepid femme fatale working her “magic”, only this time possibly seeing the answer to everything she’s been looking for and, er, dealing with, coming to a close, happiness gained at last. What actually amazes me is despite the grander nature of the narrative and, from the past films and their directions, just KNOWING things are bound to go drastically awry, the ideas about online dating, meeting IRL, the fumbles and clumsiness of first dates, trying to show real interest in someone, loyalty, honesty, and the price of the TRUTH all gets explored with purpose and compellingly provocative resolve while still providing us oodles of deliciously edgy entertainment throughout, again because we ARE just waiting for the proverbial murderous shoe to drop. Let’s just say I found the finale MASTERFUL.
What else was, this critic felt anyway, was the genius of how certain elements involving Ellie’s actions and associated conversations over the course of the effort just constantly leave you wondering about whether we’re actually witnessing a softening of her tendencies or if it all is still just overt and cunningly devious manipulation she’s perpetrating. This adds another dimension to the proceedings and keeps you on your thought-bearing toes trying to ascertain for SURE what she’s considering. As with the previous two films, the visual presentation here is crucial to capture those subtle and NOT so subtle moments involving character expressions and the “quiet” little moments that set up the grander culminations they lead to, and this was once more accomplished with excellent precision and dutiful camerawork. Likewise, the music score here creates the wonderfully apropos atmosphere required, not to tonally “mask” or sugarcoat anything when utilized, but rather just foster the air of ominousness necessary to maintain the film’s themes.
As we are aware, it’s the third film in this series and hence the third time Radloff has had opportunity to regale and, um, slay us with what has turned out to be ANOTHER dazzling performance filled with such adept employment of both simmering understatement and utterly menacing facial expressions and body language to once more immerse us in the twisted reality of Ellie, a beautiful but rather–unhinged–young lady who may have decided she’s ultimately found the man she can–dare I say–LIVE–with, not quite a commonality in her past dalliances and search for real love. Yet, despite the self-conscious manner her date begins under, it holds promise until events go very badly off kilter and from there–well, you know. I am so consistently awed by Radloff’s ability to literally turn from cutely innocent to murderous rage monster at the drop of a hat, and it just BEFITS the film SO well, making it the exercise in decidedly magnificent, darkly amusing spectacle that keeps your eyes glued to the screen, an ongoing testament to Radloff’s acting chops.
Was “chops” the best word to use there, actually? Anyway, Falks gets the dubious honor here of playing potential cannon fodder for a certain woman’s highly volatile demeanor and exertions through his role as Josh, a perfectly humble, good-looking man who has the–fortunate?–happenstance to be Ellie’s newfound date. Even as Josh makes every attempt to appear interested in finding out more about her, his behavior might speak differently until other trouble arrives and events turn sour. Falk has this marvelous way of playing an everyman whose questioning everything about the woman he’s sitting across from inside his mind while trying not to make it TOO obvious there could be a lack of connection occurring and then watching him attempt to mend the situation throughout the rest of the film is just fantastic, merging into a key moment that will define the character’s choices quite decidedly. It’s the perfect performance for the role, executed very, very well by Falk.
Then there’s Farrell who gets to play party pooper to a first date via her appearance as Julia, Josh’s extremely heated ex-girlfriend who crashes their date and sets many a possibly violent contemplation into the ambiance of the room. It’s the brash scornfulness and spite, which Julia exudes in spades, that Farrell embodies with quite forceful resolve, which only makes the character that much more a “love to hate” presence here, which Farrell just nails with an almost devilish wit and biting ferocity so compatible with her character. Supporting appearances are made by Matt Crispin, Kim Benesh, Joe Jennison, and Bre Kenney among a host of others playing background patrons in the restaurant sequences. So, in total, “Woman Seeking Man: Low Self Esteem 3” is simply independent cinema gold, rich in its simplicity yet still so full of the character and narrative-driven aesthetics the gene community so consistently offers while also delivering the sheer quality of enjoyable diversion 16-minutes can provide in the hands of the right filmmaker. And, let’s face it, here it’s an object lesson in watching out who you choose to date, because apparently it’s STILL a fact that, sometimes, love remains a killer.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
