When a diverse group of lifelong friends comes together to celebrate the marriage of devoted couple Elise (Amy Adams) and Michael (Adam Garcia), the mixed-up relationships of the past pave the road to a weekend no one is likely to soon forget in the feature debut from filmmaker Matthew Cole Weiss. The setting is Los Angeles, CA, and the event is the wedding between a man and a woman who always seemed destined to be together. Unfortunately, all relationships can't be as healthy as Elise and
Michael's is, and though best man and maid of honor Rich (Aaron Stanford) and Samantha (Melissa Sagemiller) seem to be preparing to take the plunge, the same certainly cannot be said for neurotic actress Lana (Mena Suvari). A free-spirited soul who has experienced flings with a variety of wedding attendees including the hapless Pockets (Jon Abrahams), alcoholic actor Simon (James Van Der Beek), and manic children's television program host Donovan (Ethan Embry), Lana attempts to sort out her past flings as lovelorn agent Quentin (Colin Hanks) pines for the bride's sister and the estranged father of the groom attempts to reconnect with his long-lost son. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Standing Still wants to be an honest, earnest look at the difficulties of growing up and moving on, but it remains stuck in such a fantasy-laden milieu that the characters never feel particularly real, and their problems seem phony and arbitrary.
I continue to enjoy Van Der Beek's willingness to play obnoxiously against type -- it turns out as a big-headed hero, he's boring, but as a big-headed ***, he's a funny guy.
The efforts of an attractive and accomplished cast ensure that director Matthew Cole Weiss' feature debut is neither as dull nor as insufferably smug as it could easily have been.
There's just simply not one iota of originality to this exceedingly superficial and charm-deprived ensemble film. It doesn't help that most of the characters come across as entitled, navel-gazing twits without a smidgen of depth.
The script (by Matthew Perniciaro and Timm Sharp) is trite, and the direction so flat that every scene looks like it was shot in a broom closet, but the bright young cast makes things more bearable than they should be.
I just watched this movie, and I really liked it...alot. Sheesh. What's with all the bad reviews I am reading about this movie? Some of the things that were said didn't even sound like the same movie I just saw. Amazing. Well, I thought it was very charming, cute, and enjoyable.
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