My Effortless Brilliance is a throwback to early/mid-90’s Indies like Daytrippers and Walking and Talking – engaging characters, simple plots where not much happens, but the dialogue is refreshingly honest.
Directed by Lynn Shelton (HUMPDAY), this drama/comedy takes on male friendship – and thankfully not the Hollywood, boys-will-be-boys bromance, but actual honest relationships. Eric (played by Harvey Danger’s Sean Nelson) is a novelist – a little pretentious and very self-obsessed – goes to meet his estranged friend Dylan (Basil Harris) in the middle of nowhere Washington after Dylan tells him he’s a horrible friend.
Nelson and Harris are remarkably convincing as former friends and the dialogue (mostly improvised) is comfortably real. Nelson does a brilliant job and is clearly destined for more acting roles and Harris is just as appealing. I know it’s a wasted wish, but wouldn’t it be great if Hollywood were willing to invest more in movies like this.
Rating: 7.9 out of 10
My Effortless Brilliance/DVD/2009/IFC Films/79 mins.