3 out of 5

Directed by: Charlie McDowell

There are some wonderfully tense moments in ‘The One I Love,’ where we’re watching an odd spin of a Rob Reiner rom-com, knowing the general steps of the dialogue and the flow of the plot but truly fascinated by director McDowell’s and writer Justin Lader’s take…  Just where is this going?  How will it get there?   This level of viewer involvement is an especially nice surprise from executive producers and mumblecore graduates the Duplass Brothers; though that credit is their only behind-the-scenes one (Mark Duplass is the male lead), some of their stylings can be felt in the handheld still shot, or the one-on-one conversations that seem to have a note of improvisation – but still, I had forgotten my Duplass disdain once things got into full swing.  The setup: Mark and Elizabeth Moss play Ethan and Sophie, a married couple on the outs – he too logical, she too judging – seeking guidance from therapist Ted Danson.  After we witness some very Reiner-esque he-said she-saids and failed communication experiments, the therapist decides to send the couple to a remote cottage to which, apparently, he’s sent several couples with happy results.  They go, they have a pretty awesome night, and then wander to a guest cottage on the grounds and continue to have an awesome night.  Or… at least Sophie did.  Because Ethan doesn’t seem to remember it at all.  Depending on which review or preview you read, different aspects of this might have been spoiled already, but I’ll hold my tongue; but the guest cottage seems to open new possibilities for each member of the couple to ‘rediscover’ their mate, although, somehow, without that particular mate actually being there.  Yes, it’s quirky, and McDowell honestly doesn’t handle the transition too well, hastily editing scenes together without effective visual clues beyond scene A not meshing with scene B.  This harkens back to the mumblecore tradition of slightly sloppy filmmaking, but What’s Going On is compelling enough that you hang in there, and are treated to a darkly comedic exploration of love, of how we fall in and out of it, of how those cute characteristics can become character flaws…  McDowell and Lader continue to keep us engaged by mostly playing it straight: Ethan and Sophie respond believably to events, and Duplass’ personality flip-flops form a fun circle around the terse but hopeful Sophie (with Moss well cast in the role), though admittedly toward film’s end both character’s attributes start to slip into parody.

Alas, as to Where is this going? and How will it get there?… I don’t think our filmmakers knew either.  With an impossible setup, the creators decide to take a shortcut out by escalating events, and toss earlier details to the side in a rush to the end.  This distraction renders some of the earlier relationship explorations a tad pointless, and then I was brought roundabout to thinking of another Duplass genre mashup: Baghead.  These are interesting ideas that don’t quite marry their concepts effectively (and no, in this case I don’t think that’s some meta parallel), although ‘One’ was much more effective than Baghead as we actually can understand and feel for our characters.

The heart of ‘One I Love’ is in the right place.  Unfortunately, the same turn the flick takes to grab our attention ends up being what derails the relationship plot, and the better executed relationship plot leaves us little time to explore that turn.  I’m not saying I know how to make this into a great movie, but if McDowell or Lader extend themselves beyond the Duplass’ brothers style preferences, further projects from either would be worthy of attention.