During a snowy winter in the small fictional town of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts, a group of lifelong buddies hang out, drink and struggle to connect with the women who affect their decisions, dreams and desires.
16 May Beautiful Girls (1996)
Dorothy
This is some pretty good writing. You know it is pretty good when it deals with ordinary silliness and is directed by a non-entity and yet still engages.
This is a fellow that is not afraid to write junk films, but who has also written the amazingly deft self-referential “High Fidelity” and the ambitious “Denver when you are Dead.” This must have been from that period when he wasn’t successful and just wanted to write.
You can see the method: start with one of the three startingpoints: Nabokov. In movieland, that means make every character a competing storyteller and have a distinct reference to “Lolita.”
Add to that “Wizard of Oz,” which in movieland means three goofy guys swirling around the girl and wondering what life is all about.
(Since Rosenberg likes us to know what he is doing, there are copious references to these two sources.)
Then simply expand the Dorothy to several bodies, sharpen the dialog — especially the Lolita lines — and you end up with this.
Posted in 2003
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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