- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Director : Stephen Basilone
- Media Format : Subtitled, NTSC
- Run time : 1 hour and 31 minutes
- Release date : May 25, 2021
- Actors : Finn Wittrock, Zoë Chao, Casey Wilson, Jim Rash, Damon Wayans Jr.
- Subtitles: : English, French, Spanish
- Producers : Audrey Rosenberg, Sam Bisbee, Deanna Barillari, Laura Lewis, Theodora Dunlap
- Studio : Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
I had a really hard time with this film. It
sets up a premise that is grounded in realism, and the painful twists and turns
in the road of life. We are following a protagonist so painfully down-on-his
luck, that it isn’t difficult to get pulled into the relatability of the
situation. In some ways, it was too realistic for where I am in life right now,
but I appreciated this dedication. That is, until the movie decides to throw
away the realism in favor of a fantasy twist. The movie even makes a game out
of keeping the reveal of whether the fantasy elements are real or simply mental
illness until the very end. This is problematic, because regardless of which
you are hoping for, the reveal makes entire elements/aspects of the narrative
irrelevant.
Bart (Finn Wittrock)
is a struggling writer who has trouble paying the bills while recovering from a
particularly difficult breakup. This premise is coincidentally similar to a
place I have been in my life recently, so I was empathizing with the dissatisfaction
of his career and the aimlessness he feels when he makes the decision to day-drink
at a movie theater and passes out. Woken up by an enigmatic young woman named
Vienna (Zoë Chao), Bart finds someone to enjoy life with. The two of them fall
into fast company, with banter and flirtations leading to physical chemistry.
It isn’t until
Vienna announces that she comes from the future that the movie begins to lose focus.
All of the painfully realistic depiction of Bart’s emotional struggles is
tossed aside in favor of a simple mystery, and filmmaker Steve Basilone plays
with the audience by offer opposing clues as to whether Vienna is telling the
truth or suffering from a mental illness. Not only is this an irresponsible treatment
of the discussion of mental illness, it also tosses aside the very real emotional
recover that Bart is going through. Rather than seeing him make healthy
progress growing or working on himself, he simply gets over his past heartbreak
by latching on to another woman.
The response I
had to this film may not be the same as everyone. I wouldn’t expect most to
relate so much to the rock-bottom situation that Bart is at. But as someone
working very hard to find a healthy way forward, I only wished that Long
Weekend had taken the premise and its characters more seriously. Instead, they
simply feel likes pawns in the filmmakers play. Worse yet, so does the
audience.
Entertainment Value: 6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 2/10
Special Features: 0/10
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