If there's a way to make privileged, glammy young drug abusers sympathetic, this decidedly isn't it. Callous, cynical, narcissistic, not nearly as funny as they think they are, dangerously irresponsible and determinedly wasting everything they've been given in life, they're more like minor a-hole antagonists we might encounter in the story of someone actually relatable.
Putting them centre-stage makes for a very strange viewing experience. Was the writer doing a sort of self-portrait, imagining in his own druggy delirium that we'd fancy them as much as he does himself? Feels like it.
One can only hope that, if this was the case, with the movie done, it held up a reflection to him he finally couldn't ignore, partly just because and party because there is at least a little potential here. True, the story isn't really about much thematically and the primary motivation for the two leads to embark on solving a mystery rather than going to the cops is pathetically weak and could have been stronger, but what follows is fairly well constructed and, with slightly different characters engaged in these shenanigans, could even be amusing.
As someone who's spent some time in DC and its suburban Virginian environs, I also just enjoyed seeing the area on film. And, unlike some reviewers here, I really liked the low-budget indie look of the thing.
Putting them centre-stage makes for a very strange viewing experience. Was the writer doing a sort of self-portrait, imagining in his own druggy delirium that we'd fancy them as much as he does himself? Feels like it.
One can only hope that, if this was the case, with the movie done, it held up a reflection to him he finally couldn't ignore, partly just because and party because there is at least a little potential here. True, the story isn't really about much thematically and the primary motivation for the two leads to embark on solving a mystery rather than going to the cops is pathetically weak and could have been stronger, but what follows is fairly well constructed and, with slightly different characters engaged in these shenanigans, could even be amusing.
As someone who's spent some time in DC and its suburban Virginian environs, I also just enjoyed seeing the area on film. And, unlike some reviewers here, I really liked the low-budget indie look of the thing.