Culture Blues

Culture Blues vs Tribeca: Monogamy

Well, he's still better than Jim Halpert.

Monogamy, selected as Tribeca 2010’s Best New York Narrative, contains situations plucked directly from traditional dramas and thrillers, but offers a more subtle, surprising and rewarding experience than its inspirations. It plays pretty well as a drama with a dash of thrills, but lacks the convenient and contrived payoffs of more mainstream fare, and will surely frustrate those who only want answers, and ignore the questions.

The primary story deals in standard relationship drama as Theo (Chris Messina) is beset by uncertainties about his engagement to Nat (Rashida Jones). The prospect of spending the rest of his life with one person is hard for Theo to accept despite a seemingly happy and loving relationship. Messina and Jones perform admirably. They play off each other equally well in arguments and cutesy romantic moments.

Their problems are exacerbated when Theo starts receiving bizarre photography jobs from a mysterious woman. His curiosity and attempts to play amateur detective lead to an obsession that further distances him from Nat. The thriller inspired sequences are tense and effective as they explore how Theo’s wild imagination is indulged by provocative images.

While that all surely sounds like some other movie you’ve seen before, Monogamy rarely goes where we’d expect it to because it maintains a real world logic that many dramas and thrillers abandon in favor of theatrics and shocks. All that sexy plot action exists only so that this intimate film can raise questions about the viability and logistics of monogamous relationships, the status quo in much of the world.

Director and co writer Dana Adam Shapiro employs lean and economical storytelling. This allows him to stall the action to establish atmosphere and explore characters without sacrificing momentum. The story moves quickly but never feels rushed. This balancing act is a little hard to appreciate until the credits roll and you see where all the pieces fall, but it’s one of the things I found myself most pleased with afterward.

Characters other than Theo and Nat get little screen time, but they are used effectively and make their presence felt in just a few scenes. All the characters serve a purpose and the remarkably natural performances help round them out despite scant screen time. An elaborate thriller finale would have felt terribly out of place after spending time with characters that seem so much like living, breathing people. The characters also inject some welcome levity to the proceedings. These are not generally somber people. They are fun and likable and I was left wanting more of their barroom banter.

Monogamy is much more than the sum of its parts. It is a layered and poignant film that's as much fun to watch as it is to let sink in afterward. Complex emotions remain at the forefront, and propel a story that steps outside of “ordinary” life enough to be interesting but never grows too big for its britches. I was initially just a little disappointed that Shapiro didn’t give us a bigger payoff, but I think his restraint, in this instance and throughout, made the film that much better in the end.

VERDICT: See it. Monogamy is well conceived, unique and focused. It’s definitely worth seeing and hopefully just the start of great things for Dana Adam Shapiro.