Let's be realistic.

A Disappointing Continuation

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The Egyptian writer and intellectual (Ahmed Amen) said once that "our great pains make us great". This nice independent movie reminded me of this aphorism extremely.It's a very simple story about an artist who lives hard life; the worst of it is being insecure for all the time. The lack of success, the absence of self-confidence and the stumbling to find the true unique art in him pushes such a character to compel his love to leave him, as he got nothing to present to her. He had to face his pains ultimately to discover the real artist in him. To be close to the great he longs for or already has.For most of the time, I suspected that this fellow would find a magical lamp that could solve all of his problems. Or that the movie would sink under these problems horrifically. However I was happily wrong. It delicately brings out the case of anxiety which young artist like this suffers from.There is a sense of simplicity that overwhelms the whole movie beautifully. It shows its experience without a whit of intricacy or allegation. Actually, it attacks the allegation heavily; watch that carefully with the surprising confrontation of (Ray) the landlord near the end, or through the character of the lead at one of the post-ending scenes. Look also at the 2 critics who just appear to speak about deeper changes while they do nothing but setting and speaking ! They miss the unstoppable chances to feel life and live its pains to discover themselves and recreate these pains into art/great changes. They're the deadest people this movie exhibits, and the total opposite of its lead. It's what makes the movie, as a whole, one of few anti-allegation movies. The comedy, the romance; everything was sensitive and expressive. It had some truthful details, sweet atmosphere, and a lovable diurnal feel about it.This cast did its job finely. I watched many independent movies where the performance was discreditable, but not this time. (Mark Ruffalo) understood his character; being between the desperate young artist and the slapstick performer (let's thank this script for some of the character's genuine funny moments). Observe well how he says "sorry" to his love at the final scene only by his eyes ! (Beth Ulrich) is an exceptional creature. OH MY GOD she's god's gift to movies. There is poetry between her short tufts and her shoulders. In other words, she's too charming, giving this movie the magic it seeks, and most of all : talented. She was a delicious smile all the time, mirroring not only her character's loveliness but also ingenuousness and fondness of life, assuring that there are still people like that in our life ! Also I loved the scene, after her lover turned his back to her, in which she goes and asks him to spend the night with her friends and he just replays languidly through half-opened door; her face's reaction was perfect as refusing, not understanding, and blaming his act all at once. Sure you'll ask yourself repeatedly where is such an actress in Hollywood movies or even else ?! Though, there are a few shortcomings along the way. For instance; the movie didn't use the building's diverse characters well enough. The lead's interaction with those characters, so what he would learn from them, wasn't well made, or made in the first place. The situation of "the lead delivering pizza and got mocked in the elevator" recurred tastelessly! Plus I didn't like the closing credits' shots; I think that was made to show the continuation of life after the events' end, as a factor that may fill it with reality, avoiding labeling it as just romantic dream. But they were mostly silly and some of them had been done in sort of self-references I couldn't understand ! The original title, (Life/Drawing), says it all. As if life is just pain and creation out of that pain (So no wonder when half of the word painting is pain !). It's more profound and significant than (Apartment 12) which I believe the movie-makers accepted it as more commercial and inspiring (giving you the feeling that it's a Horror or a Thriller!).Finally, while (Ruffalo) blasted off into Hollywood movies, making a decent career throughout the 2000s; the movie's heroine, so the movie's director and co-writer (Dan Bootzin), didn't make anything after it (till 2009) !! Well, life is pain, they said it themselves. But I see that they lived that pain too much up till now !

Alex, the aspiring artist who paints geometrical images on wood, seems to be highly influenced by Josef Albers, the abstract painter whose geometrical canvases were a rage in the fifties and sixties. Alex is not that lucky though. As the film starts he receives a rejection from the gallery owner who tells him, more or less, to keep his daytime job delivering pizzas. To make matters worse, his girlfriend Yvette, dumps him. What's a struggling young artist to do when he is locked out of the place he had been sharing with Yvette? Well, finding a new apartment in Los Angeles proves to be an easy thing; luckily Alex doesn't live in crowded and pricey Manhattan. He gets a place in a building where Ray, the super, proves to be a friendly guy. Next, we get to meet the neighbors, who include the whining Sylvia, a woman who loves to cook "junk casseroles" made with Spam, which Alex finds revolting. There is also a prostitute down the hall and a Latin gigolo who is much too cool. When apartment 11 becomes empty, a nice young woman, Lori, rents in. Alex, who is reluctant to get involved, at first, likes his neighbor and suddenly they are into a nice and cozy relationship.Alex, unfortunately, runs into trouble when he misreads Lori's invitation to meet her parents. Things go worse when Lori starts seeing a lawyer from the building where she works. In desperation, Alex, who doesn't know what else to do, and feels the inspiration to paint escape him throws one of Sylvia's casseroles to one of his paintings and that gives him the idea about what road to take to sell his newly made avant-garde paintings. And yes, Lori comes back to him when it's clear they were made for one another.Imagine a new director blessed with a dream casting! This must have been Dan Bootzin's coup in making this charming indie comedy. Mark Ruffalo, as Alex, is the main attraction for watching this neat movie. Having seen Mr. Ruffalo in the New York stage, as well as having seen most of his films, we were looking forward to watching this one. He doesn't disappoint! It appears the director had a nice rapport with his talented cast. Beth Ulrich plays Lori with a naturalness that surprises. Alan Gelfant is Ray, the intrusive super, and Mary Coleston has some excellent moments as the busy-body Sylvia.It's a shame Dan Bootzin is not kept busy directing, as he shows he has a knack for the job.

Alex is a painter, each of whose canvases is just one big window-sized slab of yellow (or red, or whatever color it happens to be). Not only his art but his life lacks inspiration: his one-man show is not to be, his girlfriend just walked out, he's moved into a building full of oddballs and he's back delivering pizza to pay the rent. I expected this flick to turn into a sitcom, but it got better as it went along, developing characters and relationships, especially the one between artsy liberal snob Alex and his new neighbor Lori, whose magnum pistol, martial arts skills and utter lack of sophistication generate the contempt he has for her, despite the fact that they're having a physical relationship. Throw in the wacky neighbors, like the bathrobe-clad Lothario/one-man Greek Chorus who wanders the halls and delivers his observations in Spanish, the super-nosy super, the big-busted strip-o-gram girl, the horny, man-devouring Biddie and a couple of others and you've got funny and touching portraits of a by turns lovable and unlovable loser and the colorful characters in his orbit. Don't know why, exactly, but this story reminded me a bit of Steve Buscemi's terrific "Tree's Lounge" - another indie about a loser and his odd pals. This one's cute and it's got a happier ending. For the price of your admission you get "early" Mark Ruffalo (2001) in an affecting role and cute, largely unknown Beth Ulrich, who's a find.

The downside is that this is pretty much another indie romantic comedy about a backed-up artist who meets a girl and just can't quite get his act together.The upside is that it's at times very funny, with quirky, well-drawn characters and terrific performances, particularly by a pre-"You Can Count on Me" Mark Ruffalo.On the whole, it's worth checking out.