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Monday, 13 June 2011 09:40

A Swedish Midsummer Sex Comedy

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So what has Luke Perry of "Beverly Hills 90210" fame been doing lately?  Apparently running around an island off the coast of Sweden with some occasionally naked  men and women who have gathered to help one of their long-time friends propose to his  much younger girlfriend during the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  The soltice is also when the Swedes apparently used to and still celebrate a right of fertility so that particular time makes a nearly perfect premise for sexual hijinks.

ASMSC is currently making the rounds at film festivals all over the U.S.  And although I can't say I loved the film, I did like a lot of the parts of it -especially the naughty ones.

I was a little disappointed in the delivery of the promising premise.  Imagine "Big Chill" updated with attractive, naked people running around and saunaing (is that a word?)  The execution unfortunately fell flat even though it had a good forward-working narrative in the idea that each couple and individual was there with their own agenda.  

One couple is trying to get pregnant although the husband has     hidden the fact that he is shooting blanks.  Another is already (very) pregnant and the husband is crushing his wife with his over-bearing care.  A non-coupled friend is running away from her loveless relationship with her fiance who may or may not be gay.   Perry plays the a former college roommate of the central character who is going to surprise his GF with a ring and a fully-planned wedding with all their friends present.  Perry is charged with buying said ring.  Why is never fully explained but there's a small surprise about that that I wished was better developed.

Perry is always compelling in almost any role he undertakes but in this he's so wasted.  But that goes along with the rest of the characters who, as stated, had compelling stories but were under-delivered.

All of the actors work hard to make these stories work.  Actress Lisa Werlinder is the after-mentioned girlfriend; and although she seems initially light-weight she delivers a solid performance.  Her smoldering good looks make watching her worthwhile.  In fact, all of the   actors and actresses were varying degrees of solid performances and good eye candy.  I could have lived without seeing the men's occasional junk shot but the womens' scenes compensated for it.

This isn't Woody Allen redoing Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" but then few movies can deliver at the Woodman's early career level.  The movie has compelling actors, a semi-articulate script, and some really funny moments.  It's worth a rental if you want to see how the rest of the world does screwball comedy.

Read 2282 times Last modified on Wednesday, 05 August 2015 16:16
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Mark Sevi

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