Search - Nights and Weekends on DVD

Voyeur's Delight; or the Indie lover's Indie Indie

born into this | Southwest Virginia | 04/16/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In a world gone 'reality' this is just the sort of thing to satisfy the true voyeur. The raw pimples and all hand-held intimacy never feels like acting so much as being and if there is no plot to speak of there is still very much a story here: Two young lovers, interesting but unexceptional, navigating their way.



With such tight focus some viewers are likely to feel claustrophobic where others feel sustained intimacy but there are enough scenes that open up into the wider world of places and people--however briefly-- that the overall effect is unlike say 'Before Sunrise' or 'Tape'.



Although there is some very interesting conversation there is not much in the way of compelling dialogue (put in the mouths of actors typical of other such tightly focused films). This thing goes for show instead of tell and is able to stick to an emotional core with such honesty and true-to-life-ness it is as though there is no camera but the viewer's eye."

Much more than 'mumblecore'

Bob Rousseau | Seattle, WA United States | 08/30/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The films directed and written by Joe Swanberg and some of his contemporaries (Andrew Bujalski, the Duplass brothers, Lynn Shelton) are sometimes grouped together as 'mumblecore'- a term which has the incorrect connotation of 'navel-gazing'. True- the characters in these films often don't know what they mean to say right away, and sometimes- like in real life- it takes them a little while to get there. But it is the looser dialogue structure and occasional awkwardness of these films that make them ring so true and organic. It's a style of film-making that is similar to that in John Cassavates' films and like with Cassavates, the style has its firm supporters and those who find it to be like fingernails scraping on a chalkboard. I appreciate the truthfulness in these films, and they seem so genuine that watching them often makes me feel like I'm an eaves-dropper listening in on a real conversation at a party or at a table I'm sitting at with friends.



That is certainly the case with "Nights and Weekends". Largely a two person piece, it concerns Swanberg and co-star/co-writer/co-director Greta Gerwig as they navigate the tribulations of a long distance relationship and the changes that often come with that situation. Swanberg and Gerwig have the familiar chemistry that makes their romantic relationship in this piece entirely believable and makes the bumps in the road and the changes along the way even more real and poignant. Anyone who's ever been in a long-distance relationship will recognize the grappling for re-connection- are we still in sync now that we're not living side by side? It's heart-felt stuff, and we especially are given private glimpses of Gerwig coping with the anxiety of the situation in between her encounters with Swanberg. As often the case in real life, there aren't any good guys or bad guys in this story- just two people finding their way.



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