Reviews

I recently had the opportunity to check out an advance screening of Keep Your Distance, director Stu Pollard's sophomore inde effort. In the opening moments of Distance, the viewer is given glimpses of a politician running for office, his face being paint-balled on a campaign poster, a popular radio talk-show host and his wife, a break-in involving computer sabotage, some steamy sex, a woman driving and living out of a suitcase, the talk-show host's wife leaving a high-end hotel (and looking incredibly sexy, strutting like she means business), a powerful man and his son at the racetrack, a note left on a windshield, an extremely public wedding proposal, child-porn charges, and a hit-and-run. All of this occurs within the first few minutes of beautifully shot footage, as Pollard weaves an intricate, visually gripping web, and piques the audience interest level…we're given pieces of a puzzle, and over the course of the next 95 minutes, are challenged to figure out who's doing what to whom, and why. The film could easily be titled Keep You Guessing.

In today's politically vitriolic atmosphere, one might expect a director to use a campaign angle to further some type of personal agenda. But Pollard takes a home-grown Louisville slugger to preconceived conventions, avoiding any political stance at all, and instead uses the film to illustrate what a high-stakes game life is politically, professionally, and personally for each of his well-formed characters. The deeply personal becomes politically charged, and the overtly political comes home to roost with the most serious of consequences. Blackmail, stalking, and the conflicting emotions involved with fulfilling a ménage a trios fantasy are all in play, and Pollard never insults our intelligence by spelling it all out for us. We're free to call 'em like we see 'em, and the fun to be had is in trying to pin the tail on the bad guy…or girl…or both.

After creating a wonderful comedy about Everyman in his first effort, Nice Guys Sleep Alone, Pollard shows us some definite range, going in a completely different direction with a dramatic work that keeps you guessing. As in his first film, Pollard wrote and directed Keep Your Distance, and again uses his native Louisville, Kentucky as a sort of character. While most films seem to be about life on one of the coasts, ignoring the millions in "fly over" country who prop up the film industry, Pollard stays true to his roots, and uses Louisville to great effect. The message comes through that life can be every bit as complicated for a southern talk-jock (or his assistant, or a traveling pharmaceutical saleswoman) as it is for a guy in the O.C or Manhattan.

Pollard has a knack for casting highly talented team players dedicated to the craft of storytelling, and that commitment shines through in Distance. Gil Bellows delivers a pitch-perfect performance as popular radio host David Dailey, and the stunning Kim Raver is ideal as his morally ambiguous poster wife, who wants it all, and is dead-set on getting it. Jamie Harrold, as Whit, Dailey's assistant, is excellent, and Jennifer Westfeldt is superb as a workaholic pharmaceutical rep being torn in different directions; like Bellows', her journey becomes ours. Christian Kane plays the trust-fund pop wannabe with conviction, and his obsessions help drive the film home.

Stacy Keach and Elizabeth Pena are rock-solid in their character roles, and my only complaint would be that they didn't have more screen time. Gary Anthony Williams, Cynthia Martells, Jenny McShane, and Dennis Burkley all round out the film nicely in supporting roles.

I should qualify this review by saying that Todd Rundgren's song `Can We Still Be Friends?' could have been the soundtrack to my adolescent years (and beyond). I was constantly being told by girls what a `nice guy' I was, and the whooshing noise that accompanied that phrase was the sound of those same girls leaving me to hook up with the closest `dangerous' type at whiplash speed.

So I was prepared to be let down by Stu Pollard's film Nice Guys Sleep Alone. `He won't get it right', said I. `He'll never convey the true essence of what it's like to actually be that guy- that hopelessly romantic, kind of pathetic, basically very nice guy.'

I was wrong. He got it right. Quite.

Nice Guys Sleep Alone is a breath of light-hearted fresh air, and a high-five to all those guys- and gals- that have felt like suckers at one time or another for not being into games. Writer/Director Pollard has created an engaging, heartwarming, and above all, very funny story about love, relationships, and the games people play. His wit and comedic sensibilities are well served by a highly talented cast, and the chemistry and comedy of the characters drew me in instantly. Oh, and I fell in love with Sybil Temchen. Her character, Maggie, and Sean O'Bryan's character Carter are the reason we watch romantic comedies. They're perfect together, and you really want them to work things out.

Pollard also knows a thing or two about what to do behind the camera, which is evident at once. Rumored to have been shot for under $900K, this looks like a multi-million dollar production. Watch the DVD version, and you'll learn that Pollard trimmed the story down substantially in order to quicken the pace and streamline the story. It's a task most directors face, but was probably all the more difficult, having been the screenwriter. But Pollard wanted to serve the story, and the audience. He did just that. Wonderfully.

Nice Guys Sleep Alone is a great movie for anyone looking to feed their laugh-jones. Great for a first date, or a fifteen hundredth, this is a romantic comedy you don't want to miss.