CONFUSIONS OF AN UNMARRIED COUPLE (director: Brett M. Butler/Jason G. Butler; screenwriter: Brett M. Butler; cinematographer: Jason G. Butler; editor: Jason G. Butler; music: Ryan Noel; cast: Brett M. Butler (Dan), Naomi M. Johnson (Lisa); Runtime: 73; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Jason G. Butler; NTSC/Substance Production; 2007-Canada)
“A degenerate indie modern-day relationship story for the soft-core porn crowd.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A degenerate indie modern-day relationship story for the soft-core porn crowd, who should get a six-pack worth of horny sex rap to veg out on. The Butler brothers, Brett (co-director/writer/star) and Jason (co-director/ cinematographer/editor/producer), bring their odd take on the attempted reconciliation of a dysfunctional unmarried couple in this two-character film that ‘talks the talk’ but never gets ‘down and dirty’ showing us some nudity. Their other films, not seen by me, were “Alive and Lubricated” and “Bums.”
Dan (Brett M. Butler) is a beer-guzzling slob who sports a nifty goatee and wears a baseball hat backwards, and goes on a rant about how he lost the love of his life, Lisa (Naomi M. Johnson ), because he angrily walked out on her after catching her in a lesbian relationship with her girlfriend. As the two former lovers tell all about the ugly break-up, they each vent their feelings and try to figure out what went wrong. Since sex brought them together, it seems likely that only sex can bring them back together. With that in mind, Dan, who knows exactly what he wants, fights like a grinder to win back his girl and she holds out wanting more of a commitment from him than just a roll in the hay (or, at least, that’s what the confused woman thinks she wants).
It’s a raunchy ‘battle of the sexes’ flick that is definitely not your typical Hollywood romantic sudser.
The long diatribe stays on one shrill emotional level for too long and too many of the lines fall flat (the film’s major flaw), but it stays the course offering graphic sex lingo, a sometimes sharply edged crass humor and raw honesty that puts the screws to idealized love (perpetuated by the media, films and culture) and instead gives hope that even low-lifes can find somebody to love (about time the low-lifes and those who are not part of the beautiful people set got a break in a film!). Even though the acting was amateurish, it was still credible enough for me to believe that this could have been a real relationship; and, I don’t get that feeling in too many relationship films.
REVIEWED ON 5/6/2007 GRADE: B-