BALTIMORONS, THE
(director/writer: Jay Duplass; screenwriter: Michael Strassner; cinematographer: Jon Bregel; editor: Jay Deuby; music: Jordan Seigel; cast: Michael Strassner (Cliff), Liz Larsen (Didi), Olivia Luccardi (Brittany), Rob Phoenix (Marvin), Jessie Cohen (Shelby), Brian Mendes (Conway), Mary Catherine Garrison (Patty), Morgan Dixon (Tonya), Zoe Strassner (Maddie), David Strassner (Uncle Frank), Chris Strassner (Dariene); Runtime: 99; MPAA Rating: R; producers: David Bonnett, Jay Duplass, Drew Langer, Michael Strassner; Duplass Brothers Productions/Sapan Studio; 2025)
“Shines as a sentimental love letter to working-class residents of Baltimore.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Jay Duplass (“Cyrus”/”Baghead”) directs this amiable, comical and bittersweet rom/com in his solo feature debut after co-directing with his brother Mark and working in TV as a director, producer and actor.
In Baltimore on Christmas Eve, the 30-something reformed alcoholic and ex-improv comedian, Cliff (Michael Strassner), now aspiring to become a mortgage broker, accidentally breaks a tooth while at dinner with his fiancée Brittany (Olivia Luccardi) at her family’s home. He gets the emergency treated by the no-nonsense, divorced, in her late 30s, on-call emergency dentist, Didi (Liz Larsen). She has a grown daughter (Jessie Cohen), who chooses to be with dad (Brian Mendes) on the holiday as he marries a younger woman (Mary Catherine Garrison).
Despite being opposites, the mismatched pair make a connection because both want to escape the holiday blues by being with someone whose company they enjoy. Their ensuing adventure in the city that night leads to a May-December romance.
The schematic film has the likeable couple act like real people who are in need of companionship and who’ve been through a lot of distress. The familiar story shines as a sentimental love letter to working-class residents of Baltimore and to those viewers who like something more sincere than the usual trite Hollywood rom/com.
The title takes the name of Cliff’s former comic stage act.
It played at the SXSW Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 9/13/2025 GRADE: B-
dennisschwartzreviews.com