The performances and ambiance are more pulsating than its predictability.
“Magic Hour” runs for less than 80 minutes and wants to deal with the power of love and grief. And it should speak that way in a passionate and complicated manner. For one thing: the boyfriend tells his girlfriend a joke: “Did you hear about the flowers that fell in love? It was a budding romance.” They laugh, but then, it becomes melancholy for them.
I wanted to like this movie for the topics it wanted to explore, but it ends up being too predictable for itself to really broaden in the romantic drama genre. For those of you artisan film fanatics who want to see it, I won’t spoil it for you. But about a half hour into the picture, I think you can read between the lines.
Kate Aselton co-writes with Mark Duplass and directs herself as Erin, who takes a trip with her boyfriend Charlie (Daveed Diggs) in a friend’s (Brad Garrett) house in the desert to try to work out an issue in their relationship. He made a mistake and she keeps attacking him for whatever it is he did. They have their moments of happiness and moments of grief, and even a scene you know is a dream sequence and are glad it is.
The arguments suggest that Charlie wants a “new beginning,” but Erin doesn’t want one. And she even worries if he’ll be staying in their relationship. That’s what the trailer is trying to convey to the audience and the conflicts should speak to us. But the predictable twist starts to get annoying and wears out its welcome.
There’s also a subplot where Erin’s drag queen friends (DJ “Shangela” Pierce plays Ricky, Sabryna Williams plays Sabryna, and Martin Deluna plays Divina) make her a drag queen for a night with the name Princess Pinky Peach. One of them and the Garrett friend even take them out dune buggying that ends up being pulsating in the tension. How about unexpected visits from her mother (Susan Sullivan) and a masseuse (Leonora Pitts)? Where will they take us to? And we also get scenes of the main lovers making video messages regarding their lives. Some good, some tragic, and all poetic and passionate.
The last movie Aselton has directed was “Mack and Rita,” an idiotic comedy where a young woman felt like she was an old lady and wakes up in the form of Diane Keaton. It was awful from the poster to the trailer to the actual movie itself. But her new entry “Magic Hour” is a considerable improvement on that. She is able to direct herself with a lot of humanity and emotions, and she also guides Diggs with some X factor and charming appeal. Because it would involve the plot twist, I can’t really say what happens in a certain scene, but I can say he handles a mother daughter argument with style and attitude. I think this performance of his is a better version of what he was trying to do in Andrew Stanton’s sappy Sci-Fi drama “In the Blink of an Eye.”
There’s a lot to appreciate in this movie, especially Sarah Wheldon’s cinematography of the desert and truthful aspect of handling grief. But it’s too short to speak about the topics and relies on the twist levitating over the film. And if you can read between the lines, pun intended.
In Select Theaters This Friday
