Movie Notes: Flannel Pajamas

August 18th, 2008

= 4 stars

Starring Justin Kirk, Julianne Nicholson
Directed by Jeff Lipsky

Synopsis

Stuart Sawyer (Justin Kirk) and Nicole Reilly (Julianne Nicholson) fall in love a bit too quickly, move in together, get married, and increasingly wonder if it was the right decision.

The Good

• Every scene feels cut too short, but in a good way — often, nothing more needs to be said. Hence, the relationship moves quickly from the initial first few dates to co-habitation and marriage. Only the private, intimate moments of the relationship are shown. They’re often uncomfortable and hence seared into memory. But by doing so, much fluff (jokes, endearing moments, side characters) that plague many other relationship films are eliminated.
• Both Kirk and Nicholson throw their souls into their parts, so much so that I often couldn’t separate the actors from the characters — at times it resembles a documentary.

The Bad

• Too much nudity early on. Perhaps the intent was to get the mystery out of the way, or to contrast with the more soul-scarring moments as the relationship disintegrates (nudity of the soul) but I found it distracting.
• Definitely on the talky, stagy side. I could see many finding this couple tiresome, whiny, and annoying and become unwilling to follow either character through their inevitable conclusion. This isn’t a film that dwells on the romance or fantasy of a relationship, and is probably too honest for those looking for an escape — terrible first date movie.

Conclusion

With a silly title and banal plot, I’m not surprised I never heard of this film before. But as a rental, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise; a real gem.

The concept of marriage is an increasingly broad one, and even when two people agree to become partners, it’s entirely possible for each to have a very different concept of what marriage really means. Stuart and Nicole charge into their romance with a ton of baggage, but without the will to sort through it and share the burden together. The failing isn’t discovered with loud fanfare or a grand revelation through one dramatic incident, but after a slow, steady stream of quiet disappointments. In that sense, I found Flannel Pajamas very honest, and true.

IMDB: Flannel Pajamas
Rotten Tomatoes: Flannel Pajamas 52%