BFF (Andres Putschoegi, 2014): USA

Reviewed by Cornelia Eriksson at Santa Barbara Film Festival.

This was probably the movie I heard the most things about during the whole festival. I guess people liked it because it reminds them of all the other mainstream american comedies they have at home, stacked on each other right next to the piles of pizza boxes.

Kat (Tara Karsian) is the stereotypical person who seems to lack inspiration and motivation of life until she one day decides to bring her best friend Samantha (Andrea Grano) on a “workshop for couples weekend”, which is a gift from her mother.
The movie brings up relevant problems in relationships but also shows unusual situations. It is a romantic and truthful story with a large portion of humor. The story takes place in a cozy residence in Malibu surrounded by a beautiful environment with mountains, meadows and with the sea right next to it.

This is a typical comedy except that the situation is different and that some things are not decided and is left to the audience.
I liked the final scene the most and it shows that the cinematographer put the most effort into that scene.

You can really tell that the main actors wrote the script because expressions and mimic worked very well together and everything they said felt natural. However I do think that both the director and the actors should have worked more with the intro scene because I as a filmmaker believe that the first and the final scene is the most important scene in the whole movie, because the first scene kind of sets the standard of the whole movie and the final scene summarizes the movie. The intro was at a family dinner and it suppose to be a warm and social atmosphere but it was something with it that made it feel artificial.

Otherwise, I thought that it was a good movie. It is one of those feel-good movies you should watch with you partner after a big fight just to sit there and go “Haha look how silly their fights are, just like us.”