Review of In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007) by Shaahid V — 27 Oct 2008

This indie started out interesting + had me following along but once the couple went out on their lunch date around LA I was forced to turn it off. The old adage for writers is; write what you know, the problem with screenwriting is that all young screen writers know are vapid actors, LA + the wheeling + dealing ways of 'the biz' (urgh).

There is a large niche audience made up of people who dream of being in the biz, but beyond this group the film has zero appeal. They lost me at the slap. When the impossibly self-obsessed aspiring actress slaps the shy dorky yet cool aspiring screenwriter for revealing that he jacked off to a pic of his best friend's girl I just couldn't take anymore.

It's one of those moments the writer wants to happen, needs to happen in order to build up the conflict + set up some upcoming plot point. The problem is it has nothing to do with who the characters are or what a real person would do.

Personally, I just have a negative reaction to the depiction of female on male violence treated as common place. The idea that women can do whatever they want to men, but there's instant outrage + shock when men so much as touch a woman is a ridiculous double standard.

Mr. + Mrs. Smith played with this notion to great effect, but they were also very careful with the fight scenes to keep it fun, fair + away from anything to graphic or real.