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Screen Rant ’s Ross Miller reviewsThe Anniversary
The film follows Cid , a down on his fortune 30 - something who gets dumped by his long - prison term girl on their 15th anniversary . One year later ( exactlyone year later on as the motion picture comically points out ) , Cid is still recovering from the break up - and with help from his admirer make up one’s mind to dive into the reality of date ( he ’s never been in a relationship with anyone but his former lady friend because they ’ve been go out since high school ) .
That ’s pretty much it for the secret plan , and on paper it may not sound like much . But the point of the movie is n’t just about " what happens next " but rather the issues and theme it deals with . Some examples are the nature of relationship , how some tribe can stay together forever and be well-chosen while others ca n’t detect dear , and just what you ’re " supposed " to do as a respectable grownup . The latter is what our lead character , Cid , faces : He ’s a 34 - year - old man whose only ever had one relationship that he could never commit to taking to the next grade ( " Who date for 15 years?,“his girl angrily quizzes him during the flick ’s chess opening scene ) .
The theme are dealt with in a way that belies the little experience Campea has . It seems these sorts of things have happened in the theatre director ’s life at some power point , and that give the film a certain truth and realism . Getting these kinds of feelings across is also mostly helped by lead Jason Contini , who brings a likeable everyman tone to the role . In a film like this it ’s important that its leading man embody that and Contini really does .
However , as much as the film is about beloved , relationships , heartbreak and all that jazz , it ’s also a truly funny motion-picture show . It ’s not wall - to - bulwark , from start to finish hilarious but it has the sorts of laughs that ring true . There ’s a bit too much use of the f - Holy Writ throughout , and the pop culture references seem sort of forced a mint of the time ( in particular one involvingStar Wars ) , but for the most part the comedy comes from an honest spot .
The high spot of the pic in footing of funniness by all odds comes from Manolis Zontanos . Playing a character with the same name as his own ( why change such an awesome name , that ’s what I say ) , Zontanos is unprocessed , shocking and unabashedly in - your - face with a lot of the things he says . Some of the highlight of the entire movie are when he and co - star Dan Callahan are sit on the couch debating everything from online dating to what might happen to a man if he were in prison ( if you captivate my meaning ) . The crudity level is maybe just a little bit high , as I said , and most of that comes from Zontanos ' but almost every metre he opens his sass I was at least chuckle .
As with Zontanos , Campea ’s other hurl members are all relatively nameless - but that ’s perhaps part of its spell . Everyone has great chemical science , with Ashley Oxford ( as one of Cid ’s helpful friends ) and Julia Voth ( as a potential new girlfriend ) standing out in particular . All the ladies are not exactly sore on the eyes , either . On top of the more central characters , the moving picture also features some nice " belt down - in " characters to provide some of the one - lining . The one who bound to mind is Gavin Grazer as Cid ’s knob - whose misogyny is only bested by Manolis ' character . The Anniversarymost importantly has a shape that gel well . If a comedy does n’t have that , things more often than not settle aside quickly . Thankfully that ’s not the showcase here .
OverallThe Anniversaryis an enjoyable comedy and an telling first lineament from Campea . It ’s not go to go down in history as one of the all clip comedy classic , but for what it is I had a good time watching it . The plaster bandage all work well together , the soundtrack is catchy , the comedy for the most part is well timed ( some unneeded rudeness aside ) and it deals with things that many people out there can identify with . A solid start that proves that Campea has what it take on .
Check out the preview forThe Anniversarybelow ( beware it ’s NSFW ):
Jason Contini as ‘Cid’ and Julia Voth as ‘Shelly’
Jason Contini as ‘Cid’ and Julia Voth as ‘Shelly’
Manolis Zontanos as ‘Manolis’ and Dan Callahan as ‘Jesse’
