Review of Drinking Buddies (2013) by Cameron J — 04 Jan 2014

"Drinking Buddies" is a "comedy" about real people with real "problems". It doesn't over-exaggerate and it isn't bombastic, and its cast give heartfelt performances. Olivia Wilde is especially impressive as a constantly hungry and wild love interest for both Livingston and Johnson, and she seems to be the center of the movie. Kendrick, as the fiancee of Johnson's character, is emotional and yearns for our sympathy. Livingston appears for half of the movie, but, unfortunately, serves no purpose once Wilde's character breaks up with him. Johnson is perhaps the most interesting- he's a unique actor, one who seems to play himself in every movie; I failed to accept that his persona could fit his character, but I also thought that no one else could play the role. Weird. Livingston's character interested me in the beginning but was completely forgot about half way through, which was hugely disappointing to me.

I liked the lack of music in most scenes. It added a reality to the movie that is unheard of in most modern comedies. This movie is a unique foray into an unknown world more modern comedy that seems so familiar; its realism is quite special. However, the film seems to believe more in itself than it does its characters, and as such fails to really be great. Take, for instance, the "drinking" that this film is titled after. We get that these people are "buddies," as the friendship (and love) between them is what the film is all about, but what about their "drinking"? These people seem to drink themselves beyond drunkenness multiple times, and certainly get the munchies, but without any side effects. The only scene in which a beer is not visible is a pivotal "love" scene for WIlde and Johnson, and even then, the lack of beer doesn't seem to mean anything (although everything seems to clean up after that, even without Livngston in the picture). I think this movie wants us to accept that these people drink because they are normal, and I'm fine with that. What I'm not fine with is using the drinking as a motif without it actually affecting anything. Since these characters are always drunk, are any of their decisions ever normal? Abnormal? Why do the characters spend all of their time hanging out with each other drinking when they say behind each others' backs that they hate/love each other? Why are so many seemingly important characters introduced, only to be forgotten about?

Still, it's a great precedent for these filmmakers to continue with their vision, and it's one of the best performances for most of these actors. Of course, some of them are strangely underused.