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Joops Fragale's "Date Night": Pleasure. Pain. Dating. -- Chris Hallock |
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| If I were to take a guess, I’d say that New York filmmaker Joops Fragale has been unlucky in love. Both his atmospheric short Simone (read Mike’s review), and his latest, Date Night, showcase the extremes of the dating scene. Both exhibit the fleeting passion of lust and brief connections. Both do not have happy endings. Simone is a dark play on the one night stand, while Date Night puts a more humorous touch on dating nightmares. Both are stylized takes on the pursuit of love gone awry. With increased frequency of online and speed dating, as well as reality shows like The Bachelor(ette) where a mate is the prize, it would seem Mr. Fragale has tapped into something to which most single people can relate. Love is fleeting, and seeking connection with other humans is a risky proposition. The dating world is a scary place. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it kills. Erin Cline plays a cute young woman known simply as “She”. Her weekend nights are filled with books, alcohol, and maybe a few thousand bowls of microwave popcorn. Maybe that’s ok most of the time, but tonight she’s feeling a little lonely. After leaving the kitchen, she returns to find “He” (David Fuit) standing there. He is every woman’s dream – handsome, charming, polite, and gives orgasmic foot rubs. Together they share the perfect date, made up of individual perfect moments all geared toward her absolute pleasure. The following morning is something altogether different and scary. In Date Night, Fragale takes a cliché list of “perfect date” moments in constructing the “perfect man” character portrayed by Fruit. While I may have liked the moments to be tailored more uniquely toward Cline’s character, it was better that Fragale used a more universal approach. His list is recognizable and fun. The short actually reminds me a bit of the perfect day scene in Groundhog Day where Bill Murray’s character can do no wrong, and gets to spend an intimate night with Andie MacDowell. Fragale’s humor isn’t as outright as that film, but it is damn funny. The man’s end of the conversations is a collection tried-but-maybe-not-true pickup lines, and he says all the right things. The woman melts like butter in his seductive hands while he continues to pour the wine. Aside from Fragale’s always meticulous shot selection and tight edits, the real highlight is Kline’s performance. She’s the girl next door - one that is pretty, competent, smart, but still harbors the insecurities felt by the average woman. She could be horror’s answer to Zooey Deschanel, and was the perfect choice to display the strength and vulnerability of the character. She commands our full attention, and when she faces a very real threat, we feel genuine fear for her. Fuit does a nice job of channeling two sides of "He", the guitar-strumming charmer, and someone more sinister. Date Night proves once again that Fragale is a force in the indie film scene. He takes us to familiar territory before pulling the rug out from under our feet. Hopefully his opportunities in film aren’t as daunting as blind dating. |
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