Writer-director Patrick Brice masters the awkward first encounter in "The Overnight," an uproarious comedy of grown-up manners that drew raves at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling), just arrived in L.A. with their young son, make friends at the playground with another couple-with-child, Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and Charlotte (Judith Godrèche). A dinner invitation turns to an overnight visit, and while the kids are upstairs asleep, Alex and Emily discover that their new friends are weirder and more sexually adventurous than they thought.
Brice and his strong cast ratchet the awkwardness and sexual tension to dizzying levels, creating hearty laughs out of the characters' — particularly Alex's — discomfort. The problem is that the strangeness gets to such a high point that it's hard to come down without an unsatisfying conclusion.
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'The Overnight'
Opening Friday, July 3, at the Broadway Centre Cinemas; rated R for strong sexuality, graphic nudity, language and drug use; 79 minutes.
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