Drinking Buddies

Cast of Characters:
Kate - Olivia Wilde
Luke - Jake Johnson
Jill - Anna Kendrick
Chris - Ron Livingston

Director - Joe Swanberg
Screenplay - Joe Swanberg
Rated R for language throughout


      Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Ron Livingston and Academy Award nominee Anna Kendrick star in writer/director Joe Swanberg's Drinking Buddies.

      Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) are coworkers at a Chicago craft brewery. They share laughs together, constantly flirt with one another on the job, and love getting drinks at the bar together after work. They're basically perfect for each other. 

    Well, it's too bad they're both seeing other people. Kate is in a relationship with music producer Chris (Ron Livingston). Meanwhile, Luke has been dealing with ongoing "convos" about marriage with his long-term girlfriend Jill (Anna Kendrick). It only takes a couple of beers though to blur the line that distinguishes "friends" from "more than friends".

      Writer/director Joe Swanberg (who appeared onscreen in last week's surprise hit You're Next) has made a career in film specializing in "mumblecore". If you're not familiar with mumblecore, it's the type of low budget indie film that revolves around natural settings and scenarios and mostly improvised dialogue. While filmmakers such as the Duplass brothers have excelled at making mumblecore films, Swanberg hasn't been quite as successful. Here, with Drinking Buddies, Swanberg seems to be heading in the right direction. That's solely due to two strong performances from Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson. Unfortunately, outside of Wilde and Johnson there's not much else going on. With any great story, conflict is key. I can certainly appreciate, even love, a movie that wants to avoid the cliche Hollywood scenarios we typically see in film. Yes, by all means, give me that. I want to see that. You still gotta have a conflict, and here there is none. If there is any, it's very little and not enough. You can have the natural settings and plot and still bring about a conflict that doesn't feel contrived. Real life is filled with it. We experience it daily. What made Before Midnight, earlier this year, so excellent was that it was genuine and natural and the characters and dialogue felt real. Sure, it was mostly dialogue - like what we have here - but you still had a conflict though that kept the story moving. With Drinking Buddies, aside from a few funny moments that are clearly unscripted, the film drags on slowly, and it's only when Wilde and Johnson are onscreen together that the movie feels like it has any life. It's a pity that Anna Kendrick, who was great in films such as Up in the Air (for which she received her Oscar nomination), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and 50/50 is given very little, if any, to work with here. Granted, the film's focus is more on the characters of Kate and Luke, but for God's sakes, she's a talented actress. Give her something too.

      In spite of the weak script, or at times I should say the lack thereof, Wilde and Johnson do have a great chemistry together and it's those two that really keep this film from falling completely apart. It's not a bad film by any stretch, and as far as Swanberg (who has a brief, but funny cameo here) is concerned, this is a slight improvement over his past films. I still can't quite recommend this beyond a possible rental though. Make it a movie night and throw in Up in the Air (one of the best films of 2009 starring Kendrick) and (or) Safety Not Guaranteed (which features Johnson). I give Drinking Buddies a C (★★½).