LONESOME

(director/writer: Tony K Hall; cinematographer: Jake Wollner; editors: Nick Daniel/Jake Wollner; music: Tony Doubek; cast: Amber DeRuyter (Roxie), Zach McLain (Guy), Eric Halverson (Jim), Carolyn Lyons (Mary, Alexander Peseri (Alexa); Runtime: 83; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Tony K. Hall/Jake Wollner/Michael Kuczmarsk; A Random Media release; 2021-B/W)

“A pleasant but oddball film on looking for romance in the city.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A pleasant but oddball film on looking for romance in the city, from writer-director Tony K Hall). He tells of the travails of online dating in Milwaukee and of finding romance the old-fashioned way through pick-ups.

Guy (Zach McLain) and his roommate Jim (Eric Halverson) go offline and try the beach this time to look for women, where Guy meets Roxie (Amber DeRuyter), a young woman he fancies and spends the day doing beach things with her as sharing their love for cotton candy. But he forgets to get her phone number when they depart. Roxie thinks he’s not interested in seeing her again, and makes no effort to try and find him. But Guy becomes obsessed with finding her and searches both the city and online. He gets lucky one day and runs into her friend while she’s reading poetry in the street.


Using sparse dialogue and having no actor paid, this labor of love film has a story to tell about the modern day young adults and their dependence on social media and technology.

It has the look of a vintage silent from the 1920s.

It caught my attention because it’s so different from the other films being made today.


In a cutesy way, it pays homage to the French New Wave. But it seems more like a student’s vanity film that’s too slight to be a feature film.


 

REVIEWED ON 1/29/2023  GRADE: B-