This Space Between Us (1999)

A novice filmmaker finds himself dealing with both personal and professional dilemmas when his life takes some unexpected turns in This Space Between Us. Alex (Jeremy Sisto) is a director whose first feature has received a frosty reception from the Hollywood brass and the best job his agent can find him is directing a TV movie reuniting the cast of Punky Brewster. Alex decides it's time to give up on Los Angeles and heads to his old stomping grounds in the San Francisco Bay area through his memories of his days there are now bittersweet following the death of his wife Maggie (Vanessa Marcil). Alex is soon reacquainted with several of his old flames including French artist Zoe (Clara Bellar) cheery high school pal Arden (Poppy Montgomery) and rich but flaky Paternelle (Alex Kingston). He also finds that his best buddy from school Jesse (Erik Palladino) is still feuding with his old rival Sterling (Vincent Ventresca) who is now a city supervisor. This Space Between Us features cameo appearances from musicians David Charles Lowery (of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven) and Brian Van Der Ark (of The Verve Pipe). ~ Mark Deming All Movie GuideSystem Requirements:Running Time: 107 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 013131464696 Manufacturer No: DV14646 Product Description

I loved it!

I like stuff like this better than what is at the movies right now. I really enjoy Jeremy Sisto's work, and he does not disappoint here, as a film maker from LA who drives back to his home turf of the bay area to try to get his head together. Two years following his wife's death, Alex Harty is unable to get on with life. He wants to let go of the sadness but is afraid he will lose something. The memory of his wife? The love he had for his wife? His sense of identity? It's a very interesting character study that might hit home with anyone who has lost someone they loved and clings to things that are no longer there because of a fear you cannot even describe to yourself. One day, Alex hits a point where he is tired of being sad all of the time, tired of missing his wife, thus he gets into his car in an effort to try to "run away" from himself and from his sadness, once and for all. However, when he gets to San Francisco, he finds that his friends are not going to allow him to do that. Without spooning him the solution, Alex's friends show him how to "live" again.

It may be just a low budget indie and some find that boring. Some people find regular life boring and movies without action boring. I could not help but love every minute of this funny and very moving comedy. June 16, 2007

Really, really, really not worth the time or money.

I have never written a review before and I only intend to give my opinion with what I write here.

To sum it up, I wish I could get my money back. I am a movie buff, always pulling for the smart indie films to be better, funnier and so much more interesting than their blockbuster counterparts. However, I should have read the clues when I noticed that this movie bombed at a couple of under-the-radar independent film festivals and wasn't released on DVD until about 10 years after it was filmed.

Waste your money if you'd like. I found this movie boring, tired, already done a million times (and done a million times better) and just not really funny. Too bad. With the cast of funny 'background' actors, one would think they could string together something interesting... One would THINK. May 8, 2007

A few good moments, but much mediocrity

An anguished, twentysomething filmmaker, mourning the loss of his wife, leaves L.A. to find himself. Or something.

So he travels to his hometown of San Francisco, where he reconnects with old friends and enemies. There he remains true to himself while he wryly observes all the phonies and neurotics, finally meeting a deep and sincere woman with whom he can begin to heal over the loss of his wife.

This is a typical indie film, in the sense that its satirical targets are all so old. Phony literary parties with their pretentious poetry readings (one scene bears a striking resemblance to the literary party in Parker Posey's THE DAYTRIPPERS); shallow artsy types; crude Hollywood studio suits (shades of SWIMMING WITH SHARKS or THE BIG PICTURE, take your pick). Indeed, the whole trip north to San Francisco evokes SIDEWAYS (although this film predates SIDEWAYS).

However, this film in no way matches the quality of THE DAYTRIPPERS or SIDEWAYS or even THE BIG PICTURE. Many quirky scenes, but the characters aren't engaging enough. That, plus the sense that we've seen all these character types and their situations many times before, makes for a rather boring experience.

There are a few strong scenes. The opening with the studio executive is funny . Even so, the executive, and especially the agent, are very broadly drawn caricatures, which is not true of all the characters, giving this film an uneven feel. What's worse, this film meanders, like SIDEWAYS, but it doesn't meander anyplace especially interesting. So I was bored.

Vanessa Marcil's scenes as the dead wife were poignant (I wish she did more film work), but her scenes are brief, hardly enough to save this film. November 9, 2006

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