The Big Apple Film Festival is proud to announce that its 2005 closing night film and recipient of the BAFF Honorable Mention Award in the feature film category, “ Love, Ludlow ”, is being released on Warner Home Video . The film had its New York City premiere at the 2005 Big Apple Film Festival and received its world premiere earlier this year at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival .
SYNOPSIS:
With a gleeful wink to a more innocent cinematic era and classic 1950s romantic comedies, “Love, Ludlow” invites us into a crisply constructed, smartly stylized universe that exists almost outside of time, filled with delightful anachronisms like typewriters, hair rollers, "gentlemen callers," and characters who say things like "he's a card."
Within this constantly surprising and charming world lives Myra--a tough, straight-talking temp from Queens, played by the lovable, husky-voiced character actress, Alicia Goranson. At the office Myra takes no guff; but at home life is dominated by her eccentric, unstable younger brother, Ludlow, who occupies a fantasy world inside their tiny flat and depends on her for his every need. When Reggie, a sweetly nebbishy "suit" from work takes a shine to her, Myra slowly lets down her guard and cautiously attempts to carve out a life of her own. But a deeply threatened Ludlow throws up serious roadblocks, and she must tread a thorny path if she is to salvage happiness.
A seasoned theatre director making her film debut, Adrienne Weiss sticks close to the raw emotional truth of all three characters, and we fall in love with them because their behavior is always unpredictable. With her deeply humanistic sensibility, her flair for ironic humor, and her ability to creatively mine cultural references and retro styles, Weiss is unequivocally someone to watch.
The films stars David Eigenberg( Sex and the City ), Alicia Goranson( Boy's Don't Cry , NBC'S Roseanne ) and Brendan Sexton III( Welcome to the Dollhouse, Empire Records, Black Hawk Down ).
REVIEWS:
ROGER EBERT
Another Sundance treasure: Adrienne Weiss's "Love, Ludlow," a bittersweet romantic comedy about an abrasive office worker named Myra (Alicia Goranson), who keeps guys at a distance but is worn down by the determination of her shy co-worker, Reggie (David Eigenberg). He's a loner who thinks he may have finally found someone he could get along with. Tentatively, awkwardly, they start to see each other, but the elephant in the room is her brother Ludlow (Brendan Sexton III), a spoiled, lazy, socially inept agoraphobic who sees Reggie as a threat.
The screenplay by David Patterson makes these characters into distinctive originals, eccentrics right on the edge of being impossible. "I heard it takes more muscles to frown than to smile," Reggie tells Myra. "That's how I work out," she says.
Roger Ebert
Jeremy Mathews – FilmThreat.com
Sitting on the subway on her way to work in the morning, Myra lets a smile slip out. It's the only time she breaks her stone face until she returns home. This clever and smart woman has created a wall around her life to avoid being hurt because of an intimate familial obligation. Adrienne Weiss's "Love Ludlow" is a romantic comedy with vivid characters who actually have something to say.
Portrayed by Alicia Goranson as a feisty tough woman from Queens, Myra's harsh exterior is partly a way to keep people out of her world, which she shares with her mentally disabled brother, Ludlow (Brendan Sexton III), who has the same kind of attachment to her that young children have to their mothers. He waits for her every evening, writing dramatic, Shakespearean suicide letters and growing hungry for Twinkies.
Despite her rudeness, Myra's clever put downs directed towards some of the more obnoxious people at the office catch the attention of Reggie (David Eigenberg), a loner from out of state whom the film introduces looking at a family house with a real estate agent who first assumes is married, then has kids, then has a girlfriend, then is gay, only to be wrong on all counts. Reggie's the kind of guy who has a hard time asking someone on a date whether or not they're confrontational, but he can't stay away from this woman. The story follows some of the standard breakup/reunite romance structure as the two court in an unexpected way, but comes off better than many films of this type because the characters are dealing with real issues as Ludlow's lively and hostile behavior catches Reggie off guard.
The key to the successful portrayal of Ludlow and Reggie's feelings about one another is comedy. Ludlow is incredibly witty and well-read, and his put downs, sometimes shouted from the neighboring room, are quite clever. The characters come across as genuine people, rather than tools of the plot, thanks to the three leads and screenwriter David L. Patterson's charming dialogue. The only qualm I have with the performances is that Goranson's Queens accent was distracting at times, but I'm not qualified to say whether or not it was authentic. However, I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Myra this.
Jeremy Mathews – FilmThreat.com
MAN ABOUT TOWN
My Choice: LOVE, LUDLOW by Adrienne Weiss - perhaps my favorite of all films at Sundance 2005.
I'm going to keep today's scribblings to a minimum so that I may get out there as quickly as possible and rack up some more film viewing before I pack my bags. As for yesterday's tally, I can definitely say that ending my day with a public screening of Adrienne Weiss' LOVE, LUDLOW was the best choice I could have made. This was truly one of the best films I saw this year at Sundance, or better yet, anywhere. It's a romantic comedy that is smart, occasionally poignant, and always fun! in other words: it's pure entertainment. Its quirky characters are people we immediately care about. They are genuine, a little eccentric, but with hearts in the right place. I will definitely get into LOVE, LUDLOW when I bring you my final wrap-up next week, but for now, count on hearing a lot more about this precious little gem. What made the screening even more fun was the short subject film, THE ACT, which preceded the feature. Again, I'll get into these films at length later, but both represent the cream of the crop at this year's event.
Man About Town – 2005 Park City Festivals Daily Coverage |
