Me and You and Everyone We Know
Yeah okay I get it. Look at life differently in inner suburbia. Hasn’t that already been done in American Beauty? Hang on –that was ‘look closer’. Rushmore? Kinda. Any of Todd Solondz’s films? Yes absolutely. Okay well I was really disappointed with this film because I had heard great things but what I saw was a pretentious, incoherent independent film trying to push that art-house vibe but stumbling more than it succeeded. On the one hand you have a film centring on the relationship between a contemporary artist struggling to make a connection in the world and a shoe salesman who is finding it difficult to relate to his two young sons. Then you have a film delving into the secret world of young children and adolescents. I found the separation of these two elements jarring, not perfunctory. Had director and star Miranda July focused solely on either one of these, it would have made a more consistent picture.
But that’s not to say there aren’t moments that made it worthwhile. The ‘back and forth’ moment was hilarious, the ending with the little kid and woman on the park bench was a nice touch and yes that goldfish scene was kinda cute even it felt a little conceited. Miranda July as an actress got on my nerves more than a few times but as a director she brings much more to the table. I just hope though in her future film endeavours that she allows some moments just to exist rather than explicitly forcing them to be kooky. The moments with the kids acting naturally and their interactions felt much stronger than the scenes involving July and the shoe-salesman, played effectively by John Hawkes. Also the difficult relationship Hawkes has with his sons and July and her father were probably the most interesting elements.
I guess what surprised me most about this picture is that I’m all for the ‘looking at the world differently’ notion. The idealistic approach to life. I dig that. But not when I feel like I’m being pressured into it. And that’s how I felt with You and Me and Everyone We Know. It just didn’t gel with me.
