Review of Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) by Brandon V — 23 Jun 2009

The Flixster description says this is a "poetic and penetrating observation of how people struggle to connect with one another in an isolating and contemporary world." This makes sense to me in retrospect, but one would be hard pressed to figure this out during the pretentious atmosphere and glacial pacing of the proceedings.

I guess it is true that this movie is about difficult communication. When a fish in a bag of water is left on top of a car, our lead woman panics with her passenger on how to inform the driver, but sadly, after 5 minutes of pulse-pounding suspense and last words for a fish they never knew ("I never knew you, but I want you to know you were loved"), they can't save the fish from inertia.

Gee: the difficulties of communication when isolated from each other by cars! Our world of technology costs the life of a fish!

See what I mean by pretentious? Much of the film is like that. Its ultimate message - communication between people can be difficult and awkward - seems almost quaint after the painstaking lengths it goes to bring that across.

Whether it's portraying scenes with fish on cars, scenes where art contest directors refuse to accept a submission in person for no real reason, long-winded exposes of poor communication between a divorced father and his sons, or flirtatious games between two insecure sisters and an older neighbor, the film overdoes it. It's beautifully filmed, well acted, and at times funny, but seems mighty pointless when the day is done.

It's like learning that the Sistine Chapel was actually the result of an acid-induced hallucination and that the scenes contained aren't Biblical at all; just ol' Michelangelo tripping balls. The whole effect is underwhelming when you dig past the glossy exterior to decipher the artist's motives.