The Reel Critic In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Author: Jason Gutierrez

As a film student, I see the recent advances in digital filmmaking technology as the greatest gift to independent film since the advent of the 16mm camera. Consumer DV cameras and affordable editing software mean that anyone and everyone has the ability to make a movie. "In Search of a Midnight Kiss," shot on DV with a minuscule budget of $25,000, is a product of this flattened filmmaking landscape, and stands out as a fantastic surprise in a year that hasn't seen many surprises coming out of the independent film world.

"In Search of a Midnight Kiss" tells the story of Wilson, an aspiring screenwriter and all-around lonely guy who succumbs to pressure from Jacob, his roommate/best friend, and posts an advertisement on Craigslist looking for a New Year's Eve date. "Misanthrope seeks misanthrope," the beginning of the ad reads. The abrasive, profane and chain-smoking blonde with bangs, Vivian, responds. She gives Wilson four hours to make her want to spend the rest of New Year's Eve with him. So begins their journey on the streets of Los Angeles: eating and drinking, walking and talking. They ruminate about life, hopes, dreams, ex-lovers and sex. They connect, disconnect, make up and manage to last through the night.

Scoot McNairy plays Wilson with a despondent exterior that hides his stubborn optimism that this New Year's Eve will turn out better than before. His optimism is infectious. I have never wanted to see a protagonist succeed as much as I wanted Wilson to succeed. Sara Simmonds as Vivian presents a bit of a problem. Her performance seesaws between heartbreaking poignancy and over-the-top quirkiness that makes her character tough to get a hold of as well as threatens to sink the film at several different points.

Luckily, first-time writer-director Alex Holdridge holds the film together nicely. He finds a way to balance moderately manic comedic scenes with quiet, subtly affecting ones, all with the steady hand of a seasoned pro. An impressive feat for any director, this is made especially so by Holdridge's lack of experience and tiny budget.

"In Search of a Midnight Kiss" is a bit quirkier than the standard romantic comedy, but also a bit more straightforward than the mumblecore films from which it takes its cues. Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" stand out as Holdridge's obvious touchstones, but strains of Aaron Katz's mumblecore masterpiece "Quiet City" also course through the veins of Holdridge's impressive debut. However, unlike the aforementioned twenty-four hour romances, Holdridge takes the time to ensure he creates well-rounded characters. They have flaws, and he doesn't hold back from showing those flaws. Holdridge doesn't force his characters on us, though. Their flaws become part of their personality, and as the film progresses we like them in spite, and at times because, of these flaws.

The gorgeous black and white photography also calls to mind other indie film classics, like Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger Than Paradise" and Kevin Smith's "Clerks." In a way these comparisons seem more apt than others because of the way those films saw how other films traditionally operated within generic conventions and made deliberate stylistic or narrative decisions that sidestepped what would be considered typical. Likewise, Holdridge work holds a darker vision of the romantic comedy and pays more attention to the minutiae of daily life than one would normally expect in a film that is, at its most basic level, a genre picture. Normally the emotional zenith of any other romantic comedy, a marriage proposal, is here shrouded in the heartbreaking certainty that the relationship will fail.

There are so many moments where characters don't act like characters in romantic comedies that eventually the audience must leave behind the vocabulary of genre it has cultivated over the years and search for a new way to view the film. In other words, Holdridge forces the audience to stop viewing these characters as characters in a movie, but instead see them as real people. In a film as surprising and emotionally complex as "In Search of a Midnight Kiss," I'm not really sure I can offer higher praise than that.