(MENAFN- Arab Times) Lynn Shelton is a curious Pacific Northwest-bred hybrid of high-concept and low production value. She has made a specialty out of deconstructing sitcom-y setups: two pals trying to follow through on a dare to make film ('Humpday'); a man betwixt two interested sisters one of them a girl in a remote cabin ('Your Sister's Sister'). Instead of heightening the broad potential of such stories she plays them naturally usually with improvised dialogue and an un-stylized micro-budget intimacy.
She's something like the movies' answer to the organic food movement: a farm-fresh producer of comfort food. In 'Laggies' Shelton has brought her light heartfelt touch to her most familiar movie-ready plot a version of the back-to-school comedy rendered not with Rodney Dangerfield antics but the soul-searching of a direction-less 28-year-old Seattleite (Keira Knightley). Megan has spent her post-high school life procrastinating and earning a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy ('because I wanted to have honest conversations with people' she says) that she hasn't put to use unable to relate to her clients. She lives with her cloyingly sweet high-school boyfriend (Mark Webber) and does odd jobs for her father (Jeff Garlin) like spinning signs to advertise his accounting business. When her careerist bridezilla friend (Ellie Kemper) gets married and her boyfriend proposes Megan's arrested development turns into a crisis. Maturity On a run to the grocery store she meets 16-year-old Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz) who gets her to buy drink for her friends. They hit it off partly because their maturity level is about equal. Instead of going to the self-help seminar her boyfriend thinks she's attending Megan crashes with Annika becoming enmeshed in her group of teenage friends and attending high-school parties. Annika too is a little lost her mom having abandoned her and her father (Sam Rockwell) a divorce attorney who suspiciously observes the arrival of her daughter's clearly older new friend at their suburban split-level. Returning to the stage in life where she became stunted Megan in a tail spin of impulsiveness begins to figure herself out. Man-child movies have long been commonplace for members of the opposite sex so 'Laggies' penned by Andrea Seigel is a welcome twist one with more than a little in common with 'Bridesmaids.' The familiar notes the wacky friend the inevitable prom scene to Shelton's film keep it from ever finding the kind of honesty its character crave. 'Laggies' is really a film about people looking for genuine connection outside of traditional roles. Just as the film doesn't want to be only an implausible romp its characters a slacker fleeing stereotypical marriage a lonely single-father a teenager who wants anything at all from her mom want the confidence to break free of convention. Also: LOS ANGELES: 'Back to the Future' will race across the big screen just in time for the comic adventure's 30th anniversary. Unlike some other anniversary celebrations there's a twist: The picture that made DeLoreans cool popularized the concept of flux capacitors and made incestuous attraction improbably hilarious will be shown with a live orchestra playing the soundtrack. The original Alan Silvestri score has been edited out so musicians in major concert halls and performance venues can play in synch with the on-screen action. The presentation comes courtesy of IMG Artists and the Gorfaine Schwartz Agency which have previously given the live orchestra treatment to such films as 'West Side Story' 'Star Trek' and 'Home Alone.' The world premiere will be given by the 21st Century Orchestra in Lucerne Switzerland in late May and other venues are expected to book the film a spokesman for the Gorfaine Schwartz Agency said. Silvestri is preparing 15 minutes of new score exclusively for these special presentations. (Agencies) It's not the only musically charged retrospective for the 1985 box office smash. Silvestri the screenwriting duo of Robert Zemeckis and Jamie Lloyd director Bob Gale and songwriter Glen Ballard are teaming up on a musical based on 'Back to the Future' that is slated to hit the London stage. (Agencies) By Jake Coyle By: Jake Coyle
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.