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What would you do if you received a love letter intended for
someone else? How would you respond to a family's persistent
attempts to marry you off to someone you're incredibly attracted
to -- but not in love with? The quest for love -- or anything
remotely resembling it -- is deftly and poignantly played in
"Foreign Correspondents", an engrossing debut feature
from writer-director Mark Tapio Kines.
The film consists of two structurally independent but
thematically linked storylines, both of which revolve around
near-romances triggered by an overseas letter. In the first,
"Dear Jenny," a lonely young woman ("Heavenly
Creatures" heavenly Melanie Lynskey) begins receiving a
series of increasingly ardent love letters intended for her
apartment's former resident. Does she throw them away -- or feed
the fantasy? "Love, Trevor," the second story, follows
a similar ethical dilemma as a young rover (Corin Nemec) accepts
a free airline ticket to visit a beautiful Bosnian
sort-of-girlfriend -- only to become enmeshed in her foster
family's scheme to marry her off for a green card.
I loved the film for its subtly increasing sense of alienation
and dread (reminiscent of "Don't Look Now" or
"Carnival of Souls") -- but this is no horror movie.
It's warm, frequently moving, and often quite funny (watch for
Star Trek's Wil Wheaton as the goofy neighbor from hell). Think
of a Southern California Truffaut, or Woody Allen without all
the twitchy self-absorption. Buy and watch at least three times
to get all the juice out of this subtly woven tale.
*Note for film buffs: this was the first independent feature to
raise nearly all of its funds on the Internet.
-- Thomas
Lakeman, Guest Junkie ( 3
pops out of 4 pops )
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