Easier with Practice (2009)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 3
This promising debut from writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez is anchored by a startlingly honest and tender performance from Brian Geraghty that helps make Easier with Practice more than just another road trip drama.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 1
This promising debut from writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez is anchored by a startlingly honest and tender performance from Brian Geraghty that helps make Easier with Practice more than just another road trip drama.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 710
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Movie Info
A writer traveling to promote his unpublished novel enters into a bizarre phone relationship with a mysterious woman in this cellular love story based on Davey Rothbart's autobiographical GQ article of the same name. Davy Mitchell (Brian Geraghty) is a writer who has yet to realize his full potential. In order to raise awareness about his latest manuscript, Davy hits the road with his younger brother Sean (Kel O'Neill) and begins performing readings for small groups across the country. One
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Cast
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Brian Geraghty
Davy Mitchell -
Jeanette Brox
Sarah -
Jenna Gavigan
Josie -
Kel O'Neill
Sean -
Marguerite Moreau
Samantha -
Katie Aselton
Nicole -
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All Critics (32) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (3) | DVD (2)
There's no doubting Alvarez's promise, as he weaves familiar indie elements into a film that is likeable, insightful and compelling.
Top CriticAn unexpectedly stirring first feature by Kyle Patrick Alvarez about the challenges of making human connections in the weird and wired 21st century.
Amusingly predicated on the romantic possibilities of phone sex, Easier With Practice pushes past its titillating premise to become a quietly provocative love story about emotionally stunted manhood and the risks some guys will take to connect.
Geraghty relies too heavily on facial expressions and mannerisms, but those who appreciate visible effort may be seduced.
Easier With Practice reveals the sense of loneliness and isolation that permeates modern life and the lure of fantasy in filling its emptiness.
Geraghty's wounded-pup appeal keeps the movie alive even as it heads for a dreary, even-more-implausible-than-the-setup third act. Writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez, though, usually finds the right tone and appears to have a promising future.
What could have been a film that exploits a potentially salacious premise for artificially comedic or edgy effect, feels instead like an honest and truthful dissection of the sometimes-strange way modern relationships can work.
Based on a men's mag article, Kyle Patrick Alvarez's debut feature is an honest, funny-sad portrayal of emotional dysfunction.
The film is a slow-burner: a study in loneliness and alienation, whose unexpected ending and ambiguous aftermath require us to reassess all that has gone before.
It is a cool, funny, mischievous movie, with a stand-out, even break-out, performance from Geraghty...
Kyle Patrick Alvarez's movie stands out as one the year's as-yet-undiscovered gems.
An engaging and moving tale.
Excellent American indie that tugs hard on the heartstrings.
What might sound like the set-up for a particularly bawdy Judd Apatow comedy is actually a deceptively sweet tale of twenty-first century alienation.
The genre of road-trip-leading-to-self-discovery now has another masterpiece in its cinematic vault.
If you give Geraghty some time, and you give Alvarez some time, you can see that they're getting at something by letting it play out.
Do not have a relationship over the phone unless you know the person at the other end. You never do
Davy's experience never plays out precisely as you would expect and I, for one, guessed wrong just about every time right up to the poignant, perfectly-acted finale that does provide some closure while opening up a whole new set of life questions.
Easier With Practice is such an assured, solid and just plain good film, it's going to be a tough act to follow.
For any film, let alone a debut, to address difficult subjects with this much insight, humor, and humanity is almost miraculous.
Endearing and wise with a captivating and emotionally raw, brave and honest performance by Brian Geraghty. It's one of the most refreshing, heartfelt and unforgettable American films of the year.
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