A scene from "In Search of a Midnight Kiss".

Speak up!

By Kevin Craft

In Search of a Midnight Kiss opens with a montage of couples sharing a tender moment before the last midnight hour of the year. Voice over narration is provided by Wilson (Scooty McNairy), a struggling screenwriter whose move to Los Angeles has left both his professional and personal lives in shambles. He tells us that the 'Midnight Kiss' on New Year's Eve is unlike any other but fails to qualify this overtly romantic position.

In the next scene, we learn that instead of producing the screenplay that will win him critical acclaim and financial success, Wilson has been spending his days sitting around the house he shares with lifelong friend Jacob (Brian McGuire) and Jacob's flirtatious girlfriend Min (Kathleen Long), lamenting life's hardships and generally wasting his time. Tired of Wilson's bleak outlook on life, Jacob convinces him to post a personal ad on Craigslist asking for a date for New Year's Eve. Wilson acquiesces and entitles his ad "Misanthrope seeks Misanthrope." This sarcastic approach is apparently a winning strategy in the world of Internet romance and pretty soon Wilson's phone starts ringing.

These first two scenes set up a very predictable premise: Wilson will spend his New Year's Eve on a quixotic romantic quest, trying to learn about love with a complete stranger before the ball drops on the most of arbitrary of holidays. But instead of devolving into a mishmash of clichéd, romantic blandness, writer-director Alex Holdridge unveils a welcome intelligence once Wilson leaves to pursue his romantic endeavor, and the film drastically improves after its fragile opening moments.

His date turns out to be an aspiring actress named Vivian (Sara Simmonds), whose acerbic wit hides her very sensitive nature. The two walk around downtown Los Angeles and ruminate on the fragility of relationships and of a life spent pursuing artistic ambitions. The premise never rises above conventions, but the film's dialogue transcends its characters' one-dimensional natures, adding a level of intelligence that most indie films aspire to. There are also several very entertaining scenes, including a trip to an abandoned Los Angeles playhouse. These elements combine to form a very entertaining romance that forces the audience to empathize with the flawed characters who appear onscreen.

Shot in black-and-white to emphasize every wisp of cigarette smoke and mask the flaws of downtown Los Angeles, In Search of a Midnight Kiss draws its chief inspiration from Richard Linklater's films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the standard bearers of the couple-conversational genre. The film never finds an original voice or qualifies its tagline (It's not just another kiss), but it is more enjoyable than most New Year's Eve celebrations.

Cast: Scooty McNairy, Sara Simmonds, Brian McGuire, Kathleen Luong. Writer-directors: Alex Holdridge
Producers: Seth Caplan and Scooter McNairy. An IFC First Take release. Running time: 90 minutes. Adult themes, language, nudity, sexual situations.

Screens 7:50 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15, at the Miami Beach Cinematheque.

Published: 9/08

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