Movie Review: Breaking Upwards
by Max Abrams
Friday, Feb 05, 2010
Breaking up is never pretty. Even when both sides agree it's time to let it go, all the ugly feelings and jealousies start to come out no matter what we do. Movies tend to use a breakup as the beginning or end of a film, either creating a problem or ending a story. But what if the entire movie is about the process of breaking up and breaking apart?
Breaking Upwards is the brain child of real life couple and co-stars Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister Jones. The film begins years into their relationship. Although they are comfortable, they grow bored of the mundane life their relationship brings. Instead of breaking up, they decide to take "days off" to slowly get used to life without their long term partner. What follows is one of the most sophisticated and nuanced examinations of relationships of the past 10 years.
The characters are fighting against the all too human feeling of jealousy. As the two lovers attempt to date other people, all the painful and ugly emotions start to come out. When they are together, they feel bored and uninspired, but when they attempt the fast life of casual relationships, they yearn for each-other more than ever. However they don't come off as immature, but rather as flawed as any human.
Instead of fulfilling the viewer's desire ("I hope she ends up with ___"), this romantic film seeks only to reveal the humanity of the characters. The film is full of the little things that make a relationship important, like the stress put on their facebook relationship status (it's not true until it's on facebook). It's these little things, both intimate and obsessive, that give the characters and story the depth sorely lacking in most other romantic films. There is no expected outcome to the story, as the narrative weaves the viewer through the complexities of basic human interaction. The viewer never knows where they're going, but the film is never confusing or unfocused.
The film keeps the viewer entertained with the backdrop of beautiful New York and a cast of neurotic characters that tend to complicate more than alleviate. The mothers (Julie White and Andrea Martin) are especially brilliant and hilarious, providing a different take on the situation than the lovers intwined in it.
While Breaking Upwards can have the feeling of some other indie-hipster breakout hits (see: Garden State), the superb script and realistic acting give it a depth rarely seen in those films. The problems of this couple can be applied to any relationship and the issues they discuss are close to any young person's heart. Maybe it takes a real life couple to create a more realistic, insightful portrayal of love.
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