XX/XY
D: Austin Chick
Rating: NNN
Rating: NNN
No, this isn’t another sequel that Vin Diesel took a pass on. The romantic travails of 20-somethings are on parade in this ménage à trois movie. Mark Ruffalo, Kathleen Robertson and Maya Stange meet in college, try a sort of three-way relationship that never really works and, despite that, drift toward a repeat when they meet 10 years later. It’s an interesting but not entirely successful film. Ruffalo is too old for the first part, though callow enough to be the immature jerk in the second half, which makes me fear that he’s going to spend his career playing variations on his You Can Count On Me character.
Director Chick has a nice sense of how people walk into emotional quicksand without noticing that they’re sinking, and a good eye for the spaces of New York City and that peculiar cold slant of light in downtown lofts. It’s a slow starter the second half of the film is much better than the first. (Bloor, July 11-17)
