the fresh films reviews

S I N C E   1 9 9 7









 

Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)

Director:
Miranda July
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Drama/Comedy
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Me and You and Everyone We Know
RUNNING TIME
90 minutes
Producer:
Gina Kwon
Screenwriter:
Miranda July


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Richard Swersey John Hawkes
Christine Jesperson Miranda July
Peter Swersey Miles Thompson ½
Robby Swersey Brandon Ratcliff
Sylvie Carlie Westerman ½
Andrew Brad William Henke
Heather Natasha Slayton ½
Rebecca Najarra Townsend ½
Nancy Herrington Tracy Wright

 

Review

Writer/Director/Performance artist Miranda July opens her film account with the quirky, affirmative, semi-quilted Me and You and Everyone We Know. It is a Todd Solondz type film with a feminine, though never feministic, seasoning. The axis of July's universe is the newly divorced shoe salesman Richard Swersey, a devoted father and employee with a good heart but wavering psyche, and the struggling artist Christine Jesperson, a direct non-mainstream woman looking for love and approval in persistently unconventional ways. Around these two characters July cuts a witty and dark, but never cynical or pessimistic slice of life. Her people might not always act the way most people you know would, but then again, they don't act like stereotypical film characters either, because July wants to convey something that might make you think and view the world a wee bit differently - if only for a moment. She questions the values of early 21th century society in the constant focus on and apparent openness around sex, or more precise, de-eroticized, nonconforming sex. But that doesn't mean she condemns it, or even criticizes it. In July's view, the classic distinction between adults and children is challenged. She suggests that society overestimates the maturity of adults while underestimating the maturity of children. One of several interesting aspects of this warm, layered and refreshing film.

Copyright © 23.9.2007 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

[BACK TO INDEX]

[HAVE YOUR SAY]