Director: Joe Swanberg.
Starring: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, Jason Sudeikis.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
Certificate: 15.
Synopsis: Luke (Jake Johnson) and Kate (Olivia Wilde) are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They’re perfect for each other, except that they’re both in relationships. When the beer flows, the line between friends and something more can become a little blurry.
It’s the life we all dream of; spending every day hanging out with our friends and being paid to make (and drink) gallons upon gallons of beer. That’s the hardship facing Luke and Kate in DRINKING BUDDIES, Joe Swanberg’s slightly unusual romantic comedy and ode to the effects of alcohol on adult relationships.
The three leads put in dependable solid performances with nothing outstanding to write home about. Wilde plays her part well as the thirty-something girl, Kate, who hasn’t grown up and looks to others to look after her. Firstly, through boyfriend Chris (a steady appearance by Ron Livingston) and later on with Luke, whilst she doesn’t realise it, she constantly needs saving and the men in her life are only to happy to step on in.
Kendrick’s Jill, Luke’s long suffering girlfriend, is less of a complete character and Kendrick’s sheer charm and likability is somewhat lost here. Superfluous to proceedings – and a seemingly artificial plot device to keep Luke and Kate apart – the actress’ usual easy connection to an audience becomes a disappointing missing link. Jason Sudeikis also pops up in a couple of scenes as Luke and Kate’s boss, but is criminally underused.
The movie is stronger in its second half once the inevitable clichés (a predictable conclusion to a hiking/picnic scene and hey, who knew drinking led to skinny dipping?) have been dealt with. It veers out of the troubled domain of bad formulas by sticking to the light-hearted side of a friendship that revolves around a mutual love of beer. Never explicitly mentioning the sexual chemistry between Luke and Kate also does the film a favour, partly because the characters seem more like a brother/sister pairing than friends dying to rip each other’s clothes off.
What puts this movie slightly above the usual romcom fare is its distinct lack of sentiment. There’s no gushing, no overly emotional confrontations and no sappy monologues. After all, when you’re drinking buddies, an apology is a beer and some French fries.
DRINKING BUDDIES is released in UK cinemas on Friday November 1st.
