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Overview
A splintered story in which the one or two interesting characters are drowned by mundane and boring stories.
Director: Ryan Piers Williams
Writer: Ryan Piers Williams
Review (with Spoilers) – Below
Characters & Story
At the heart of X/Y’s story is the relationship between Sylvia (America Ferrera) and Mark (Ryan Piers Williams), and how the dissatisfaction of that relationship leads them to two different paths. However, it should be noted, their stories aren’t the ones solely focused on. Both have friends who are given slight features and allowed to have just enough screen time to become relevant. The first friend is Sylvia’s, named Jen (Melonie Diaz), who is unemployed, an artist, looking for love, and may have herpes. Then there is Mark’s friend Jake (Jon Paul Phillips) who is a model, aspiring photographer, might be bisexual, and also works as a DJ.
Leading to a film which mostly tries to give you a taste of these 4 lives, and the ones they intermingle with.
Praise
For me, the sole storyline I felt was interesting was Jen’s. Which is despite Jen having the very familiar story of an unemployed artist looking for love, sometimes in the wrong places. And the main reason her storyline, I feel, was interesting, is due to Diaz bringing some sort of life to this otherwise dull movie. Which isn’t to say there aren’t interesting moments in the film, such as Jake and Mark hooking up as well as Sylvia and Jason (Common) hooking up.
Criticism
However, with Jake and Mark not talking about what led up to them hooking up, and why Mark saying “no” didn’t lead to things ending, there is a seriously missed opportunity to pursue something interest. The same goes for Jason and Sylvia. For even with the amount of passion we see, there remains unexplored grounds when it comes to their interaction.
Leading to the heart of the film’s issues: It suffers, like any film which splits its focus between multiple characters, with fluctuating quality when it comes to its stories. For while, arguably, Jen and Jake present interesting stories, they aren’t the leads. Pair that with the film switching between those characters just as you get settled into their storylines, and become invested, and you get the type of film which loses your interest just as quickly as you get it.
Overall: Skip It
With only Jen’s 10-15 minute segment and Jake’s hookup with Mark, being the sole moments in which this film seems interesting, I feel this film isn’t worth seeing. Which is unfortunate since last year, at the Tribeca Film Festival, this was one of the movies I was hoping to see. However, due to it being sold out, and me refusing to be in a rush line, I skipped it. Seemingly, the world was being kind to me, and my wallet, with not having me waste my time traveling up to NYC to see this.
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