There are all kinds of movies that are either endangered or practically extinct. The big-studio comedy. The original musical. But the sweet and shaggy regular-people movie — more a province of the 1970s, always one that required a little hunting down — is a particularly rare breed.
“Baltimorons” is one of those little movies you might stumble across and be surprised that it hooks you. It does so despite — or more likely because — of its complete lack of flashiness or any self-evident attempt to “hook you.” Instead, it manages that simply with low-key charm and a warm, unpretentious humanity.
Director Jay Duplass’ film is about a young Baltimore man in recovery for two things. Cliff (Michael Strassner) has quit both drinking and improv comedy. If “yes, and” had been his personal mantra, he’s now, after a failed suicide attempt seen in the movie’s first moments, pledged to give up both for his girlfriend, Brittany (Olivia Luccardi).
It doesn’t take us long to grasp that this state of affairs is trying for Cliff, a gregarious and easygoing guy, but an aimless one. The alcohol isn’t so much the problem, though. More difficult is going cold turkey on riffing his way through life.
On Christmas Eve, while Cliff is heading to Brittany’s family home for a holiday celebration, he trips and chips his tooth. With most dentist offices closed, he ends up at the door of Didi (Liz Larsen). Their interactions are, at first, awkward. Cliff is informal and prying; Didi, many years his senior, is more official. As a partner for Cliff’s eager conversation, Didi, a woman with a defeated, just-getting-through-the-day, middle-aged melancholy, would seem about the least genial match.
But each gets little windows into the other’s life. Didi, divorced, learns her daughter won’t be with her that evening — a phone call overheard by Cliff. And when the dental work is done, Cliff realizes his car has been towed. Didi reluctantly offers a ride, and, from there, the two end up on an unlikely Christmas Eve odyssey together, without the supernatural qualities of Dickens but nevertheless with ghosts from the past along the way, such as Didi’s ex-husband and Cliff’s former improv troupe (named The Baltimorons).
“Rom-com” or “May-December romance” would be reasonable labels to put on Duplass’ film, written by him and Strassner. But part of the freewheeling charm of the film is that it doesn’t try to define the relationship that evolves during its lightly paced night. These are just a couple of people (both actors are wonderfully natural) a bit disappointed by life, who find each other at the right time.
Jay Duplass and his brother, Mark Duplass (a producer here), first made their mark in the early ‘00s with micro-budget comedies like “The Puffy Chair.” “The Baltimorons,” though, doesn’t feel like it's trying to shake up the movie industry. Like its characters, it's just trying to get by, and maybe find a little companionship along the way.
“The Baltimorons,” an Independent Film Company release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for language. Running time: 100 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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