Review of Blue Jay (2016) by Spangle — 09 May 2017

Two lost and broken souls see each other in a supermarket. A chance encounter, the two share a connection forged in the fires of their youth. Since then, things have changed. One, a drywall installer, has returned home to clean-up and possibly re-do his recently deceased mother's home. He is unmarried. The other, a dog rescue owner, has returned home to help her sister with her impending birth. She is married with two boys in college. In meeting once again, the two old high school sweethearts re-kindle the embers that once were alight within each other. In spending one more day with one another, the two realize that, no matter how much their lives have changed, their deep-rooted connection is like their small hometown: nothing has changed. There is still the old man in the gas station market. The same rocks by the river are there. They still remember each other's favorite things. Old clothes and notes are still hung up in the closet. Yet, underneath it all, the coffee has gotten worse. Both are afraid to admit that their old favorite coffee place has gotten progressively worse over the years, so both continue to sip down the bad coffee. By the time they both openly admit this fact, they both realize that it is time to wake up and smell said coffee: things have changed, even if on the surface, everything is the same.

Unmistakably different after so many years, Jim (Mark Duplass) and Amanda (Sarah Paulson) may be able to slip right back into old antics and routines, but they are too different. However, what connects them is one event from their relationship that also wound up tearing them apart. It has hampered both of them since it happened with Jim unable to find love in another person after losing this connection with Amanda. Amanda, meanwhile, is suffering from depression and equally unable to find satisfaction, aside from her stepchildren. Unable to speak about it with one another so many years ago, the two's chance encounter winds up not just being a trip down nostalgia lane, but also a chance to revisit past hurts and to have a mutual healing between the two parties. It is through this opportunity to put themselves back into the shoes of those lost and confused teenagers that they are able to confront the darkness that hangs over each of them, the doubt that they made the right decision, and the regret that abortion can really foster up for many.

Tenderly and charmingly written by Mark Duplass, Blue Jay further establishes Duplass - of The League fame - as one of the unsung heroes of modern independent cinema. Directing, producing, and writing, independent films alongside his brother Jay, Mark Duplass consistently delivers low-key comedies and dramas that touch on the human experience. Or, if they do not, they at least touch willing audiences in another manner. Blue Jay is absolutely representative of this with its tender approach to its romance, refusal to demonize either party, and to show both the dangers and rewards of delving into one's past for future healing, the film is a beautiful mosaic of real life. While its biggest fault, and certainly the thing that really holds it back from being better, is its slight nature that prevents it from really feeling cinematic and revolutionary, none of this stops the film from being overwhelmingly touching and real. Blending brief comedic dialogue with great wit with heavy-hitting drama that strikes right at the heart of humanity and romance, Blue Jay may be a bit too slight and narrowly-focused, but is a touching and gorgeous experience nonetheless.

Shot in a beautiful black-and-white by director Alex Lehmann, Blue Jay is unexpectedly an absolutely gorgeously shot film with great usage of its lack of color. The highlight being a shot of Jim and Amanda walking away from the camera with the sun creating a sort of border around both of their silhouettes. Alongside that is a great shot from Jim's porch aimed at the sky that really blends the white of sky with the black of the night terrifically for a beautifully composed shot. At every turn, Lehmann's film makes great use of the black-and-white cinematography visually, but also thematically. Creating that nostalgic feeling of delving into one's past with this throwback style of black-and-white, Blue Jay is simultaneously a film about nostalgia and one that was made with nostalgia-tinted glasses. Turning back the clock to old school romance films about a man and a woman who come together in odd circumstances to have a brief romance, Blue Jay winds up being a nostalgia trip down memory lane for film lovers as well as romantic lovers.