Lazy Eye *** (2016, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Aaron Costa Ganis, Michaela Watkins)

Lazy Eye is a likeable and appealing 2016 romantic comedy-drama film, thoughtfully and intelligently written and directed by Tim Kirkman. It stars Lucas Near-Verbrugghe and Aaron Costa Ganis as two men who pick up from where they left off 15 years earlier.

Lazy Eye is a likeable and appealing 2016 American romantic comedy-drama film, thoughtfully and intelligently written and directed by Tim Kirkman, who also produced with Todd Shotz. It stars Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Aaron Costa Ganis, and Michaela Watkins.

The plot follows the story of Dean (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe), a graphic designer of movie posters, who reconnects with Alex (Aaron Costa Ganis), an ex-lover he hasn’t seen or heard from in 15 years. They pick up automatically and immediately from where they left off, and seem made for each other, but…

Lazy Eye is a pleasing film with a good tone, a warm heart and a nice spirit. It is reflective, warm, positive and sort of hopeful but also vaguely melancholic and essentially rather sad. It comes complete with good, credible, interesting dialogue (it’s a bit of a talkathon but that’s fine) including a bit of movie talk (Harold and Maude) and two excellent, ingratiating performances, attractive backdrops (the vacation house with a saltwater swimming pool, the desert near Joshua Tree). It’s basically just a two-hander, but it is easy and pleasant to fall for the quiet charms of the two actors and the movie, as well as the lifestyle it seems to be proposing. There’s an effective, mood-heightening score by Steven Argila.

After Dean, a Los Angeles graphic designer is told by his oculist of a sudden downturn in his already vision that’s normal in middle aged people, an ex-lover from 15 years earlier contacts him unexpectedly in hopes of rekindling their relationship. When the two meet for the weekend at Dean’s vacation house in the desert near Joshua Tree, their passion is rekindled and secrets are revealed.

The film was shot in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, California in only 12 days.

Lazy Eye premiered at the Provincetown International Film Festival on June 17, 2016. Breaking Glass Pictures released it in the US on November 11, 2016.

The cast are Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Dean, Aaron Costa Ganis as Alex, Michaela Watkins as Mel, Drew Barr as Optometrist, Debbie Jaffe as Bartender, Michael Rubenstone as Bar Manager, Harrison Givens as Chatty Grad, and Renée Willett as Waitress.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,887

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