Score: C
Director: Torre Catalano
Cast: Jodi Balfour, Brandon Jay McLaren, Martha MacIsaac
Running Time: 97 min
Rated: NR
“This is the true story of seven strangers picked to live in a house and have their lives taped. Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real…The Real World!”
Sure, that’s just the opening from MTV’s wonderfully trashy relic Real World, but it pretty closely mirrors the plot of Almost Anything, minus the strangers and videotaped parts. In Almost Anything it’s a group of seven friends, vacationing at someone’s parents’ house, who decide to have a Burning Man-style weekend and let loose. As truths come out and emotions fly high, the friends are forced to face the complexities of their lives and relationships. There’s Will (Brandon Jay McLaren) and Greta (Martha MacIsaac), married for a years but hitting a rough patch, Sam (Alex Ashbaugh) and Beans (Jodi Balfour), high school sweethearts and recently engaged, Chris (Jordan Hayes) and Caleb (Dillon Porter), a new couple looking for a fun time, and Jay (Max Topplin), the only single one left and your usual dopey, sad single friend stereotype.
As everyone settles in, Caleb tells the gang about his recent trip to Burning Man and how free he felt there. Craving some freedom themselves, they decide to follow the rules of Burning Man and do whatever they want, whatever that might be. For some it’s smoking weed and for some it’s immediately jumping into bed with someone else. For everyone it means stripping to their underwear and dancing around.
Hard as it tries, Almost Anything lives up to its title by being almost anything (and not in the complimentary way). Perhaps I’ve just seen one too many indie films about a bunch of wealthy millennials sleeping around and complaining about their lives, but Almost Anything doesn’t do much to make it stand out from the crowd. It’s certainly interesting getting to know each of these long-term friends through snippets of conversation. The focus on characters grounds the film by creating real people that seem to have lives outside of their film roles. Unfortunately, a 97-minute runtime doesn’t allow us enough time to get to know our gang of fuck-ups. Their revelations and mistakes and victories end up feeling hollow and meaningless. As it is, having stranger Caleb be there as an instigator/guide/friend felt like a transparent plot device to put the ensemble in an emotional powder keg. I think a slow burn, perhaps spread over a television series, would work better here. But as a film, it lacks either the acting or the writing to be successfully wrapped up in and hour and a half.
Almost Anything is closer to Real World than an indie masterpiece. While it’s clear the intention was there, the film struggles with balancing its ensemble and delivering an emotional punch. But hey, if you just like watching pretty people make out and argue, Almost Anything ain’t a bad time.
