Take three couples with festering issues, add a new beau accompanying a woman on their third date to a brunch with the others, add a nerve gas attack, sit back and enjoy the fireworks.
A low budget effort, "It's a Disaster" admirably examines the group dynamic and the nature of 21st Century commitment. The disaster is, really, the inability of these thirty-somethings to relate in reasonable ways (and a brunch no one wants to attend). There's a swinging couple who not only invite the new beau (a restrained David Cross) into a threesome but who have also bedded, separately, another couple; a couple planning to announce their divorce; an alienated couple who are barely coupled (America Ferrara shines).
Each character speaks in a unique voice from comic book reading conspiracy theorist to dim bulb pretty boy and girl and a commitmentphobe doctor. Well-modulated and spare, their relating never deteriorates into screamfests or expected vitriol. Listen carefully or you'll miss many a terrific line hissed sotto voce. They all take the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it in stride and that's the point. It's their narcissism at the center of the film, not impending death by nerve gas.
This film may also cause certain viewers to seriously reassess their bad habit of arriving late to functions.
"It's a Disaster" is by no means earth-shattering, but it is entertaining, thoughtful, surprising, and maintains the precarious balance between comedy and tragedy. Though a bit abrupt, the end is a hoot that rings true.
Couples who view the film may find fodder in their own relating, and there's enough happening to spark post-viewing debate.
This film may bookend well with "This Is the End" (2013).
A low budget effort, "It's a Disaster" admirably examines the group dynamic and the nature of 21st Century commitment. The disaster is, really, the inability of these thirty-somethings to relate in reasonable ways (and a brunch no one wants to attend). There's a swinging couple who not only invite the new beau (a restrained David Cross) into a threesome but who have also bedded, separately, another couple; a couple planning to announce their divorce; an alienated couple who are barely coupled (America Ferrara shines).
Each character speaks in a unique voice from comic book reading conspiracy theorist to dim bulb pretty boy and girl and a commitmentphobe doctor. Well-modulated and spare, their relating never deteriorates into screamfests or expected vitriol. Listen carefully or you'll miss many a terrific line hissed sotto voce. They all take the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it in stride and that's the point. It's their narcissism at the center of the film, not impending death by nerve gas.
This film may also cause certain viewers to seriously reassess their bad habit of arriving late to functions.
"It's a Disaster" is by no means earth-shattering, but it is entertaining, thoughtful, surprising, and maintains the precarious balance between comedy and tragedy. Though a bit abrupt, the end is a hoot that rings true.
Couples who view the film may find fodder in their own relating, and there's enough happening to spark post-viewing debate.
This film may bookend well with "This Is the End" (2013).