'Tis the season for a penis-topped tree, and we've got one for you! PERMISSION is here, it's streaming, and it's not that bad!
If you're going to stumble face-first into an "open-style" relationship to test the boundaries of your long-term relationship, maybe have a discussion first. Having "PERMISSION" isn't the issue in this romantic comedy directed by Brian Crano, starring Dan the "German love robot" Stevens and Rebecca "in everything pretty much" Hall.
Yes, we're uncovering the 2017 Romantic-Comedy PERMISSION that follows a couple AT THE BRINK OF MARRIAGE who think it's a good idea to have a go at some other folk before "fully" committing. As you can probably guess, there's a disparity between our hosts, and in classic "On the BiTTE" fashion, one of them liked it better than the other.
Doesn't take a relationship analyst to figure out who but as the twinkling of the Holiday Season creeps ever closer check out this film that just so happens to be set during Christmastime.
Permission to Cheat
Laura: Ryan?
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: What's your favorite Dan Stevens joint? Um, off the top of your head, just let it loose.
Ryan: What's that one where he plays the German robot?
Laura: Well, hello there. Welcome to On the BiTTE the podcast that uncovers full frontal male nudity in cinema. My name is Laura and I am joined by the one and the only Ryan.
Ryan: I don't think, um, I'm the one and only.
Laura: My one and only.
Ryan: Oh. Should be more specific then.
Laura: Co host.
Ryan: Oh, okay. Yeah. There was concerns you were going to replace me with somebody else at some point.
Laura: No.
Ryan: Okay. Well, that's good.
Laura: I'm glad signed the contract.
Ryan: Well, I wouldn't have given you permission to do that.
Laura: You wouldn't have given me the 2017 romantic comedy drama permission.
Ryan: There you go. See, we should do segues just like this. Keep, uh, these openings nice and short. Yes.
Laura: Badaboom.
Ryan: Yes. Uh, the Brian Kreno, uh, joint.
Laura: The Krano joint.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Starring rebecca hall dan stevens david joseph craig morgan spector gina gershon jason sudeikis francois arnaud that's a lot of people in this film.
Ryan: A star studied cast for a movie that I don't yeah, we're going to.
Laura: Get into it for a movie on streaming.
Ryan: Was it streaming?
Laura: Only as far as I'm aware.
Ryan: Wow.
Laura: Uh, as far as I'm aware. And it's going to be really difficult to find more Christmas movies with penises in it. It's really hard.
Ryan: Isn't Jacob's ladder One.
Laura: Is that a Christmas movie? Is that a holiday film?
Ryan: Is there a Christmas tree in Jacob's ladder? We would need to double check because I'm not too oh, I love that.
Laura: Uh, um, um, well, before we talk about yeah, but I mean, that is a problem that we're going to have to figure out. We're going to run real quick. We'll never run out of Halloween films.
Ryan: In terms of m the ladder of actual problems. It's a very first world problem is we don't have enough Christmas movies to substantiate the amount that we have for Christmas time for our podcast. So yes, I don't feel that bad about it.
Laura: Well, I don't want anyone throwing fake penis Christmas movies at me. Like the Harold and Kumar Christmas movie. That's not real. Yeah, but I like to stick to honest real.
Ryan: It's within the tone of the Harold and Kumar cinematic universe. Let's be those those films are meant to be stoner know?
Laura: And they are.
Ryan: They definitely are.
Laura: M this film is not a stoner comedy.
Ryan: Is it even a comedy? Sometimes I don't think it's that funny. Like, I kept on seeing it as being something that was a romantic comedy.
Laura: And I'm like, it's a romantic comedy drama. Absolutely. And I will tell you the synopsis I pulled from Letterboxd perfection. A woman on the brink of a marriage proposal is told by a friend that she should date other men before spending the rest of her life with her boyfriend. One sentence I'm going to give you the tagline. How can you be certain he is the one if he is the only one?
Ryan: Fuck. I've got so much to say about just the general premise.
Ryan: I just want to get Brian out of the way first because it's really short.
Laura: Um, go ahead. I watched his two feature films.
Ryan: Oh, good. I've seen you'll be informed.
Laura: I am I am adequately formed. I did my job this week.
Ryan: Well done.
Laura: On the back.
Ryan: Yes.
Ryan: Um, so, Brian, is it Crano or Krano?
Laura: Sure.
Ryan: Excellent. So covering the bases, there much research. Brian Crano. Um let's just say crano. Crano. Either way, he's a director, he's a writer. He's known for Rubber Heart, that came out in 2007. Official Selection, that came out in 2008. A bag of hammers in 2011. That was his first feature. Dog Food, in 2014, which I think is a horror short. And Permission, that came out in 2017, which is his second feature. Um, but, yeah, let's just get into this big, massive fumbling fuck fest.
Laura: That's all you have about Brian, huh?
Ryan: That's literally it. There isn't really much on there. I think there's some interviews and things.
Laura: I didn't see a lot. I really, really dug deep, and I didn't find a lot. I found a few interviews about this film. I did watch Bag of Hammers, which I've liked. It's actually really weird.
Ryan: A little bit better than this.
Laura: And sweet, probably. Uh, but I actually watched this more than once, and I liked it better the second time I watched it. So there's that.
Ryan: Yeah. I don't think I like this film particularly much.
Laura: It's not right up your alley. This isn't a film for you.
Ryan: No, but there's something inherently kind of uncimatic about it. Um, I do like the fact that it's short. It's like 99 minutes. So it's incredibly respectful of your time. I just don't know if it's a very satisfying 99 minutes. There's some highlights in it. But the issue I can have with it just overall is I find it incredibly uninteresting. Now, unfortunately, it has very similar, uh, Voyeurs vibes about it, kind of transcends, um, common sense logic to quite a massive degree. But then to say that a man.
Laura: Who loves monogamy, maybe that's true, potentially.
Ryan: I, um, mean ah, the film. Yeah. There are certain kind of trappings within the film that I feel like carry over into something like the Voyeurs, where it feels a little bit unintelligible. And I wish it felt a little bit more humanistic and kind of made a little bit more sense to me from, like, a dramatic standpoint.
Laura: My gosh.
Ryan: But the issue I kind of have with it overall is the fact that I wish that there was some kind of logical path.
Laura: This movie is a bit of a family affair, kind of, in a way. Everyone except Dan Stevens is in a relationship, it seems. Okay, so Morgan Spector, who plays Reese, he's the bearded, uh, gentleman.
Ryan: The daddy at the dog park.
Laura: No, that's Jason Sudeikis. The other fella is David Joseph Craig. So they're the gay men in the relationship. It's David Joseph Craig and Morgan Spector. But Morgan Spector is married in real life to Rebecca Hall.
Ryan: Right. Okay.
Laura: And David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano are partners.
Ryan: Right. Got you.
Laura: So they kind of just got, like, their pals together. Brian Crano and Rebecca Hall have known each other since they were teenagers. And Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens were classmates at Cambridge for a little while. And they'd been in some shows together.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: So they were all just kind know it's one of those we've been waiting for, uh, a project to come along so we could work together. Even though Rebecca Hall and Brian Crano have done several several things together. Several short films. Rebecca hall was also in Bag of Hammers, his, uh, first feature.
Ryan: Yeah. There's quite a cachet with a lot of the films that he's made. There's quite some notable names in those movies that I don't think many other filmmakers would have had that level of access right.
Laura: For kind of a lower ish budget indie films. He's got some good connections.
Ryan: I mean, I'm not going to lie, though. Rebecca hall is pretty much in everything.
Laura: I like Rebecca Hall.
Ryan: She's in a lot of stuff.
Laura: Do you know what she's in? You want to know my favorite Rebecca Hall picture? Let me you I feel like you could guess if you really had the list in front of you.
Ryan: I don't know. Nighthouse?
Laura: No, it's Frost Nixon.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: Remember?
Ryan: Yeah. Isn't she?
Laura: Uh, Michael sheen.
Ryan: Michael Sheen's. Uh, partner. Right.
Laura: Yeah. Wonderful.
Ryan: I see.
Laura: They're wonderful. I love that. I don't again, I don't have a lot of details, but I do have that detail. Yeah. It's a film about a couple of couples that are having a hard time.
Ryan: I mean, it's a film that's born, uh, out of who you know, which is what the filmmaking business is all about.
Laura: Filmmaking.
Laura: I was talking about the characters.
Ryan: Right. Well, yes, we're going to get into this right now, I suppose. But yeah, it is about two couples. And part of me does wonder, does the gay storyline need to be in the movie at all?
Laura: There wasn't enough of the hetero storyline. You got to split it up a bit. You have to have something for everyone, I guess. I didn't hate that. I don't dislike that part of the story. I thought that their situation was pretty interesting. So you have your straight couple who have been together since they were in college, I believe, I guess, or high school. They've been together forever. They've never slept with anybody else. And they're together. They're living together. Their lives are melded together. They're happy. They're renovating a house. And Dan Stevens is walking around with a ring to propose. He's just fiddling with this ring, going to he's planning on doing that. And then you have their friends. I think one of them is, uh, Rebecca Hall's brother.
Ryan: Right.
Laura: Or her character, anna's brother. Brother.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And then will who's? Dan Stevens, his coworker. And they've been friends forever.
Ryan: Right. Okay.
Laura: So they're all best friends.
Ryan: So that's why he can get away with saying some of the things that he says.
Laura: Yes, I suppose.
Ryan: I mean, it's a little on the nose, like this immediate opening conversation, because I do roll my eyes at it a little bit.
Laura: It is.
Laura: So let me just before we jump into that, because that's really quite in the beginning of the film. But I do appreciate a movie that starts off with a dog. Like, first shot a dog.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: It's a greyhound.
Ryan: Well, they're humping.
Laura: They're also having sex.
Ryan: Yeah, they're humping.
Laura: So you get a cute dog with the sounds of sex, which is a little weird, but I don't hate it.
Ryan: It's a little greyhound in a coat.
Laura: He's not in a coat, but he's very cute.
Ryan: Oh, I thought he was in a coat.
Laura: Wish.
Ryan: Little jumper. I thought he was in a jumper.
Laura: He's in a very cozy situation.
Ryan: Right. Okay.
Laura: He's got a lot of blankets and pillows, and he looks really comfortable.
Ryan: Yeah. Okay.
Laura: And I liked that for him.
Laura: So it is Anna's 30th birthday.
Ryan: They're 30. No, they're not 30. They look closer to 40.
Laura: I know.
Ryan: Um it's movie magic. It is. But it's also kind of like this juncture, I guess 30 years old is a big turning point in your life where it's kind of like they say that you spend your teens just trying to survive, and then you go to college, and then your 20s is about trying to find who you are. And then your 30s is you follow through with that plan. Um, so I guess is this the turning point where they can be so easily led into making this kind of decision? I guess this is where the permission comes in.
Laura: Of course. So, I mean, it's a wild little dinner that they're having because you have.
Ryan: This you have the gay couple, and you have, obviously, Anna and, uh, Will. They're together. The guy who's the German robot and the lassie who's in everything. How they get on to this, it's incredibly crass. And it's kind of just it is.
Laura: And you would expect to maybe see Reese the bearded one, the bearded man, to act maybe a little bit more drunk, a little bit more inebriated to drop into this thing, because they're at dinner and they're just discussing, wow, you two have been together for so long. Anna, didn't you have a crush on this guy when you're younger? And, Will, didn't you talk about having sex with other people when we were in school together, but you never did, and you guys have, uh, just only known each other.
Ryan: But it's slightly more crest than it's a bunch of girls and all this sort of stuff.
Laura: Like, how can you even know if you want to be together forever if you don't try another cock like stuff like that. And it's quite intense for a 30th birthday dinner when you're not even expecting or, uh, seeing this man drink a lot. Because I feel like if you're going to say that kind of thing to these people who are clearly very happy as well, they, uh, seem very happy together. They seem like they really love each other and they're very comfortable.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And this guy's like, you got to get out there and get on some other dick. Which is wild.
Ryan: It's a wild thing to say.
Laura: Hard enough to find someone you like, I guess, and you're like, Go try out some dirty dicks. I'd rather not. Because it's hard to find someone and get in a relationship with someone and be comfortable and be in love and have your lives kind of work together where you're integrated and you feel comfortable. So I think it's a bad suggestion.
Ryan: Uh, it feels incredibly out of place.
Laura: Basically saying, you guys are perfect together, but you need to sleep with other people. Which is not something I would typically.
Ryan: It'S not a very good recommendation, I would say.
Laura: Certainly not.
Ryan: Yeah. I think the idea of it is better than the actual practice of it.
Laura: Their relationship seem boring, but there's nothing wrong with their relationship.
Ryan: There's plenty of people out there who can have open relationships. I just think that those kinds of people are able to separate the emotional side of it from the physical act that replaces that. So they're able to find a nice, happy medium, which is fine for people like that, but it's something that I can't wrap my head around as a fairly monogamous man. And, uh, I mean, it's never worked out for me, um, any of that sort of stuff, because it doesn't interest me. When I was in my 20s, um.
Laura: I've never had that. I've never had that. It's just been pretty basic.
Ryan: It's hard work.
Laura: Yeah, but exactly. That's exactly what I'm saying. It's hard enough. I don't want to date anybody. I want to go out and find strange. I'm tired.
Ryan: It's like people who I don't know how people can cheat because I don't know how you find the time.
Laura: Exactly.
Ryan: I just want to go to bed. You work 9 hours a day. We do a podcast. I do other things on the side. So do you?
Laura: You do other things important. We don't have time.
Ryan: We are we have a dog. Um, so, yeah, we just don't have the time. But it's also kind of just like I'm just not really in the fucking mood. I think it's more a sign of my age than anybody else. I think if you're in your 20s, you can do what the fuck you want and you feel like you're unstoppable, but at the same time, it. This conversation feels incredibly intrusive. And now there's elements of it that I do understand. I do understand that for them to say, like, you're the one, this is what it's going to be for some people, that works. But for them to say that that's the case when they haven't been with anybody else, that does make sense. But then coming from this guy in the way that he says it, you're kind of just like you would kind of just pass that off as a kind of like a bad comment at, uh, a party from a drunk dude. And you're just like, yeah, okay, whatever.
Laura: And it's also weird because in that situation, you see his partner looking at him really disapprovingly, saying, why are you saying this? Why is this even coming out of your mouth? It's very embarrassing.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: And so you would expect maybe it's coming from him in a way that's, uh, like, he's insecure in his own relationship as well. So maybe he's not feeling as comfortable. Maybe he also wants to go out and sleep with other people, which is why he's saying that.
Ryan: Maybe.
Laura: But that's not how he talks throughout the rest of the film. Throughout the rest of the film. He goes, I want this man to be my man forever, no matter what. I love him and we're happy, and I just want to be with him.
Ryan: There's a point.
Laura: It was weird.
Ryan: Yeah. But I would say that the way that he behaves in this opening scene is effectively kind of the way he behaves through the rest of the film. And I'd say there's a kind of revelation near towards the end where obviously, uh yeah. There's stuff that happens in the gay relationship which yeah.
Laura: Um I don't know.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: I don't know. I'm a little bit more with Reese the bearded one in this particular situation.
Ryan: Yeah. I'm more kind of confused by the fact that Will and Anna decide that it's a good idea.
Laura: I know. So it's like they go home on her birthday, she gets birthday sex. Awesome. Good for her.
Ryan: Good old fashioned missionary.
Laura: Nothing wrong. Nothing wrong with that.
Ryan: Look, it's missionary for a reason.
Laura: M. What reason is that?
Ryan: I don't know. That wasn't what I meant to say.
Laura: But anyway, if it's like, this is the best yeah, okay. Anyway. But Anna is the one who essentially starts the conversation. She's more thinking about Will going, maybe he wants to sleep with other people know? And he didn't even propose. It's not as if he proposed. And then it's kind of dawning on them, well, this is it.
Ryan: His night was hijacked, effectively because he.
Laura: Was going to well, here's the thing.
Ryan: I understand they're close friends and stuff like that, but to me, personally, I'm like, if you're going to propose to this woman, don't have your pals there.
Laura: That's true.
Ryan: It doesn't really make any sense to me.
Laura: It's a little awkward.
Ryan: Um, it's really awkward. And I'm kind of just like if you were going to do it and there was any kind of feelings, like there were strong feelings there, then they obviously wouldn't follow through with what happens after that, where it's just like this little idea that then they kind of get a little carried away with. Certainly Anna does. Anna just kind of takes it and runs with it to the point where it's gross. Yeah. It's kind of a little bit like sadistic. They never sociopathic.
Laura: Yes. And they never set ground rules if you're going to be with someone and you're with them. And it's the weirdest thing that these two people go together to find people to have sex with. They go to a bar together.
Ryan: It's super gross. And it's kind of just like, oh, now we have to collectively lie about our relationship.
Laura: Yeah. Oh, this is my friend. We went to school together. So you're manipulating these strangers to sleep with you.
Ryan: But then it's kind of like we're imparting our own experience and our own, I guess, set of moralistic values onto this decision. When, say, people who are in active open relationships can look at this and be like, well, this is just the way it is. But the thing is and the thing that sets them apart from the likes of us is that they have a very clear and honest agreement and they know exactly what they're getting themselves.
Laura: They do not have a very clear agreement. Uh, as far as I know.
Ryan: I meant, like, people in open relationships, not the couple.
Laura: Exactly. Movies. You have to have rules. It's more like when Larry David and Kirby enthusiasm when Cheryl gives him the pass on their whatever, anniversary.
Ryan: That also blew my fucking mind as well. Yeah. I was like, okay, it's like the man least likely to because you would never do that. I would never want to do that. Well, you know your man at this point anyway. You know, I don't have the time for it. I just don't care. I honestly don't care.
Laura: But there were rules. Uh, there it's not as if she's going out with him to find someone to sleep with. He had his own time, and he went and tried to figure it out on his own, which is what should have happened here, but it didn't. So then Will ends up seeing Anna speaking with a dude, and it's.
Ryan: Not it's not.
Laura: Uh they're both at the bar and this guy Dane comes up.
Ryan: Dane is Dane the band guy.
Laura: Dane is the musician who saves her from a guy trying to hit on her. And of course, he's very charming, of course. But then Will's diddly doolin on the jukebox diddly doin. And he looks over and sees what he hopes is his soon to be wife speaking with a dude that she wants to bone. And the look on his poor little face. So heartbreaking.
Ryan: There would be a lot more it.
Laura: Should have ended there.
Ryan: It should have yeah.
Laura: Okay. This is a huge mistake.
Ryan: There should have been some level of because you don't really get any sense of strife within the relationship. It kind of starts off with a bang, continues on. There probably is an interesting way to look at this and kind of construct it differently. But it's kind of like I feel like it's locked in by the trappings of the genres it's set in. So it's a little bit more accessible if it's just a straight drama and you're kind of analyzing how this relationship works and how they decide they're going to go, I think that's interesting. But it doesn't do that because it kind of follows this rather kind of bland, dramatic comedy formula kind of throughout the whole thing. And you're kind of clutching its straws a little bit because of the initial premise being so kind of like, hold on, why are we doing this?
Laura: We definitely have different ideas on this because I'm fully in, like, the whole time. I'm into the story. I'm interested. I think that they're so easy to watch and charismatic. And I think they especially Dan Stevens and Rebecca Hall. I think they're great and right. I don't have an issue at all.
Ryan: I don't have an issue with the actors. I just have an issue with just, like, the general content.
Laura: I like it that it makes me feel icky. It's, uh, good.
Ryan: But yeah, I just don't know about just it in general. I think that it just doesn't to me. I just kind of roll my eyes and I know my phone.
Laura: This movie's not for you. But we're here.
Ryan: We're here talking about to. I'm trying to wrap my head around it because there's just something about it.
Laura: We did miss talking about Jason Sudeikis, who shows up at the dog park.
Ryan: Baby daddy. The dog daddy.
Laura: Well, he's got a real baby and a dog.
Ryan: Yeah. When you first see that baby, you're like, is that baby okay? Because it's just kind of like staring up at the air and its mouth's open and stuff, catching flies.
Laura: Babies are weird. I don't know.
Ryan: Babies can be a bit strange. Yeah, they are kind of because they're forming personalities, human beings. We don't all come out the sack looking like us.
Laura: Very keen observation.
Ryan: That's right.
Laura: There you go. But Jason Sudeikis is wonderful in this film. He's very subdued and just kind of very kind. Um I don't know. He's flying under the radar. And I think that's nice because he.
Ryan: Can be a bit he's a very realistic kind of barometer. Um, but he's intrinsically linked into the development of this gay couple who are also hitting a snag in their relationship where it has to go further or it's going to have to end.
Laura: Which is so annoying.
Ryan: Very.
Laura: Because it seems as though these two men got into this relationship and they're happy and they're having a good time and they're enjoying each other and they're enjoying life. Their sex life is good. They have good banter and they're just having a nice time. They have a nice apartment. Good for them. But then Hale decides, I want a baby. But that was never part of the original agreement. And that is something that is very important to lay down when you first start dating somebody is what are your thoughts on parenthood and children? And so you can't just pull that out of nowhere and go, oh, I suddenly want a kid. And you have to comply.
Ryan: No.
Laura: That'S manipulative.
Ryan: And not to say that the process is any different for, say, same sex couple as it is for, uh, oh, of course. Male Woman but there are level of constraint. You can't just easily not to say that people having babies is easy, but the chemistry and the hardware is there in order for it to happen naturally here, it's like there's a judicial and there's a process that they're going to have to go through and there's a lot more to that because they want to obviously adopt. Um, and that's kind of their main thing. And when it gets brought up, you do feel like, well, for one, they've never spoken about it before, and second of all, he's doing it in private. And what's worse of all is that the partner stumbles on it and he's just like, right. And then it ends up being this kind of stalemate where it's like, well, we're going to have a conversation about it. But then the conversation kind of ends as like, well, if you don't agree to it, then this is over, which is kind of a little bit nonsensical. It doesn't really make any sense to me. It's like you've not had the conversation yet. You're refusing to have the conversation. And because of this refusal, you're now not wanting to maybe take this. You're going to jeopardize this entire relationship because of an idea that you have not discussed yet.
Laura: Well, I don't know. Some people are just like that.
Ryan: But this is also a movie and it's been written a very specific way. And I would rather it took a little bit more kind of took a little bit more care and attention to just the intricacies and the difficulties and the emotional ideas of this relationship. Because, again, what are we watching here? Is it an incredibly dumbed down version of what this is? It's also directed by a man who's also gay. So I'd also want to see that level of insight within the gay relationship that's within this movie that's obviously juxtaposed to what's going on with the Will and Anna storyline. And I just can't see how they tie together. I would want one or the other, and I don't care if you have one to substantiate a little bit more length for the like, it's weird.
Laura: I don't have a problem with?
Ryan: Uh, not to me. It doesn't make a very conducive hole.
Laura: Well, then you have Jason Sudeikis, who is the new papa. And he's always at the dog park because he needs kind of time. And that's the only place the baby likes to sleep.
Ryan: Does he have a partner? He must have a partner.
Laura: I believe so.
Ryan: And she's just working while he's just at the dog park taking naps at.
Laura: The dog park with the baby. And Hale keeps showing up to the dog park. And it looks like he's taking Will and Anna's dog, which is never actually brought up as far as I know, because the greyhound's at the dog park.
Ryan: The dog is there. So I'm going to assume that that's the case.
Laura: Which is fine.
Ryan: Yeah. I mean, it's not really a big question. It's one of the few things in the film that makes sense.
Laura: Yeah, that's totally fine. But he's using hale is using Jason Sudeikis'character as the new father to be like, this is what it's like. And I'd be a great father. And Sudeikis is like, yeah, you would be a great father. And then it just, uh, keeps cementing this idea in his head that this is what I want. This is what I need. Put a baby in put a baby.
Ryan: In my hands from someone else who's.
Laura: Well, I mean, that's what he says. It at the dinner. He goes, you got to convince him to put a baby in me. Which is funny. But also, I just don't want kids. So it's just not that's why I'm more on the other guy's side.
Ryan: It's also not fucking hoot a minute either. It's not like it's not hilariously funny. It's kind of just like, uh.
Laura: It'S funny enough.
Laura: But then Gina Gershon shows up.
Ryan: Fuck yeah. Fucking this is one of the few saving graces of the movie as far as I'm concerned. Gershon is she is a gift.
Laura: She comes in just to be like a sex object and flirt with Dan Stevens.
Ryan: But she's there willingly. She knows exactly what she's doing with Dan Stevens Will. There's no relationship being developed here, but she knows exactly what she's doing. We really kind of summarize the type of person that she is. She's like a recent divorcee. She got a lot of money in the divorce. And she's quite happy doing, uh, the things that she's doing. And you know what? Uh, I think that's good. She's just a good addition to the bunch. And she's the realest one out of the bunch, if you like, because she's incredibly honest with herself.
Laura: I don't know. I think the Dan Stevens Will characters is also very he's kidding himself.
Ryan: I'm not going to lie. When he proposes to her at the end and he thinks everything's going to just be okay. He is lying to himself. He has made himself look like a fool.
Laura: You know, I've told you this story, but that happened. To me.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: That whole end of this movie happened to me. And, oh, will you just look at the ring? And I'm like, no, that guy didn't.
Ryan: Feel like an idiot. Like, he didn't feel like a fool afterwards because obviously the writing was on the wall.
Laura: Yeah. It's when you're actively trying to walk out the door and they go, Please, but please, no.
Ryan: Uh, the other saving grace is the film ends as it should have, and they realize that they've made a horrific mistake. Thing is, at the end of the day, dan Stevens still has his nice house.
Laura: He sure does.
Ryan: In New York. Like, it looks like a lovely house.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: But then I'm also kind of like I'm like, well, where does the Anna character go from that point? Because, again, her story and we're going to get into the dick scene and stuff, because this is part of her story, is how that develops.
Laura: I really did worry, especially at first, that this was a story of a woman who can't detach sex from love and from feelings. Because when she meets Dane and they start kind of forming a friendship, uh, and a sexual relationship, I'm thinking, is she really just going to jump from one dick to another dick and think that this is what love is? And that really bothered me, but that's not what happens here. It's definitely more kind of ah a I don't want to say delicate, but more of a tale of a woman discovering herself and her independence from a relationship that she'd been in for her entire life, basically her whole adult life.
Ryan: I guess that's what I think that I think that is the kindest way you can put that.
Laura: Thank you. But I don't hate this movie.
Ryan: I know you don't hate it, but then I also feel like it does a kind of gross disservice to Anna as a character, just in general.
Laura: You think that what I said does a no, no.
Ryan: I think what they do in the actual movie, they do a don't you saying that puts it delicately. I don't understand the mindset and how, uh, each of these moments transpires from beginning to end. I don't think it's because they're not able to perform it properly. I just don't think the through line is particularly clear.
Laura: Okay.
Ryan: So I'm like, well, she's continuing to do this, and there was an apprehension at first, and that's fine. I can understand that. My mind's boggled by the fact that they continue to do it and then they end up on this kind of slippery slope.
Laura: Where they first go out together and she meets Dane and they have that awkward dance party.
Ryan: Yeah. There's a weird shot when they cut to, like, a woman in the crowd and she's got this look on her face like they can't dance, basically. It's like they look like fools.
Laura: True. It's very everyone looks silly when they dance.
Ryan: Yeah. I mean, unless you don't dance like me, you just stand in a corner with your back against the wall so you can't get pushed.
Laura: So they've ended up having this weird conversation that we basically already mentioned where, oh, this is My. She's introducing her longtime boyfriend as an old friend from school. And they all walk outside of the bar together. And Dane's like, where are we going to go next? And Will's like, I'm going to go home. And he kind of just gives permission to Anna, uh, to go out with this guy further. He doesn't know what's going to happen. He doesn't know if they're going to have sex or not. But he's just kind of you want to go out? Because if this is something you want for us to move forward in our relationship, then go ahead and do it now. Let's get it out of the way. Even though Will didn't find anyone to bone that night.
Ryan: It'S so ill conceived as well, though. You're not thinking about the aftermath. It's just you're like, on you go then.
Laura: Well, uh, we love each other. We trust each other. So if we want to be together forever, then what's the difference? Uh, well, I just don't think you're.
Ryan: Prepared mentally for what's to come. We're built as emotional beings. One of the things that separates us a lot from animals other than opposable thumbs is the fact that we're emotional beings and we have a consciousness that can be dictated and put out there. So I mean, to us, they've not prepared themselves mentally or emotionally for what it is that they're going to do.
Laura: And like, kudos to people that can separate that from their brain, having sex with somebody and being in a relationship.
Ryan: But they're the kind of people who can do that, who people who are able to do that to make the distinction and detach themselves from it. That's what I mean, though. These are not the people. And you're just like, what the fuck are you doing? This doesn't make any sense.
Laura: They're very naive.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Let's jump into the penis scene. Are you ready?
Ryan: Very.
Laura: Dick scene?
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: Okay. So around 29 minutes and 25 seconds is the dick scene, and Anna has gone home with Dane. There's a really icky text conversation that you can see between Anna and Will where she goes to the bathroom and she's kind of trying to wrap her head around the fact that she's probably going to pork this guy. And she's texting Will, going, are you okay with this? I think it's going to happen. And he's just texting back, okay. And she's like, are you sure? I don't want to do this if you're not okay with it. He's like, it's cool. And she's like, okay, well, I love you. And he's like, love you. And it's just like the most awful I would have left. I mean, I wouldn't be in that situation in the first place. But if that's the kind of text responses I'm getting, I'm like, no, I'm not doing this. I mean, I would have said no. This is just beyond all reasoning to me. But yeah, she just goes ahead and says, okay, let's do it.
Ryan: It's like, if you're in that position where you're questioning whether or not you should go through with it, you probably shouldn't go through with it.
Laura: But she's okay with it. That's the thing.
Ryan: She just throws her conscience to the side and then she kind of does it.
Laura: She wants to do it. She wants to bone this keyboard player musician man.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And she sure does it. It really goes straight from talking about having sex and he's like, come on over here to your post coital situation where you've got him laying on the bed, uh, on his back, and she's got her dress back on.
Ryan: So this is one thing I do like about the movie, because it does it a couple of times, is that it does like the sex in a millisecond, like quick cut, and you hear the sound of it just going really quickly.
Laura: Which is funny because there are several points in this movie where you have that, or you see, uh, them just about to have sex and then they're getting their clothes on and it's just this really fast thing. But you have other moments where Reese and Hale, for example, they're boning.
Ryan: There's some hard, gay sex in the movie.
Laura: Yeah. Which is I love that that's in there. That it's just sex.
Ryan: It's one of the best bits of the movie. Personally. That's the stuff I was more interested in seeing. Um, yeah, it's good.
Laura: But then also, Will and Anna have a bunch of different sex scenes. Um, anyway, but it's not a sex scene. This is a post sex this is.
Ryan: Post coil, like I just said. You just hear the, uh and then he's on the bed and she's putting.
Laura: Her top back on and you can't really figure out what she's feeling. I think it's a little bit hard to discern. I think to me, it off the bat. Looks like, oh, no.
Ryan: It looked like, oh, no. And it's kind of just like, well, I've done it now. I'm going to leave.
Laura: Yeah. She's like, all right, I porked. I got to go home.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Got to go home to my man.
Ryan: Yeah. We see it in a wide shot. He's lying down. Um, it's pretty clear.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Ryan: It's pretty pronounced. I didn't remember how clear it was because it's almost like I don't know to compare it to because young Adam has a very similar shot when your McGregor's lying on the bed. Same with this. Um, but then he walks off. He walks away to the keyboard and he turns. And you do see it briefly from a slight side profile as yeah. So I don't have many issues with this moment because to me, it feels inherently quite honest. But then it's obviously there. So that, um, you're seeing the contrast between how she's feeling and then how he's feeling, I suppose, by the fact that she's fully dressed and he's continuing the party, so to speak.
Laura: Well, he's also home.
Ryan: Yeah, he is also home. That's very true.
Laura: He doesn't have to worry about it. They sleep together once, and it must be wonderful, but they do it several times.
Ryan: They do. They continue to meet for it.
Laura: Um, and also, it's just that kind of you don't know anything, and you want to know more, as if she gave up all the information right off the bat. It wouldn't be as interesting. The chase. He's interested in the chase and the mystery, I guess, of the thing. Because also he's in this band, apparently they had a gold album, whatever this band was, and he's like the first.
Ryan: Time they have said, isn't gold when you sell, is it a million? Or something like that?
Laura: I don't know.
Ryan: Or is like 100,000 platinums? Ah, it goes further than that.
Laura: Yeah. I don't know. I do think it's kind of the mystery of the thing and the fact that he is kind of a, ah, desired musician, um, man that girls are going to his shows, and I'm sure he gets a lot of attention. And the only one he's not getting attention from is this one woman. And that must be frustrating.
Ryan: Yeah, I would get it. Um, obviously the relationship blossoms, at least to him anyway. But she does continue to meet up, uh, with him.
Laura: Yes. Shower scenes. They have little dates, and she goes to his show.
Ryan: You do kind of have to wonder what is her headspace, because halfway between this as well, she's seeing this person, and then kind of later on, she meets a man who she just randomly has sex with.
Laura: I don't know about that. See, that was a weird one. And I was thinking maybe it's because she felt as though she was maybe getting a little bit too emotionally attached to this Dane person. And she thought, is it just the sex? Is the sex is what making me feel this way? Or is that how I actually feel? So she goes, what if I just go bone this other stranger? Will I have those same feelings? And of course, that guy was a dick.
Ryan: Yeah, of course. I mean, most of these dudes tend to be, uh, philanderers. Philanderers. And he was married, and it's just not.
Laura: Also, uh, Will has sex with Gina Gershon.
Ryan: Yeah. I mean, he has sex with a couple of, um of they mirror each other, though. So they both kind of have similar kind of experiences where there's one person where they meet, know several different occasions, and they have coital, uh, relations. Plus, they also have their fair share of, um, one night stands and stuff like that. Because he has sex with, uh, that the barmaid.
Laura: I feel like Will's only doing it though, because he keeps finding out that Anna's just continues to sleep with random people and they're not talking about it.
Ryan: No.
Laura: There was one moment where she's like, oh, she came back. Probably stinking of this stinky dude. And she goes right up to meet with Will. And she's like, I had sex with this guy.
Laura: And he goes, you had sex with another person? She's like, yeah, just hold me. I'm like, EW, you're being gross.
Ryan: They both come back and he says with strong stanks. Yeah, they're a bit stanky.
Laura: And he goes, will's like, should we stop? I mean, honestly, he's obviously not into it because he's sleeping with these women or having random encounters with them in pub bathrooms or meeting up with Gershon at her place. But he's faking his orgasms as well. And he even asks Anne at one point, oh, did you fake your orgasm with Dane? She goes, oh, no, no, I didn't have to. So she's just coming all over the place. And he's faking it all over the place because you can tell that there's obviously a difference here. He's obviously more in love with her than she is with him. And he is, uh, ready to start their life together. And she is having a vaginal awakening.
Ryan: Yeah. Um, I'm like, okay. I'm like the minute you thought this was a good idea, like the relationship was over and the film's only like 15 minutes long. That's kind of just how that is.
Laura: The, uh, one thing I do want to also bring up is when the.
Ryan: Spitting in the mouth. Yeah. Fuck yeah. I thought we were going to bring this up. I do like that bit. And then he starts crying. I do like that.
Laura: Yeah, they do. So I'm, um, mix matching all their names. But Georgean and will do ecstasy. It's like their second date. Nine in the morning?
Ryan: Yeah. He's 12 hours early for his date.
Laura: That was very strange.
Ryan: Whoever thought that was the kit. Like, whoever has a date at nine in the morning at, uh, someone else's house.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Doesn't make any sense.
Laura: So they're high as a kite and she's telling him, what do you want to do to me? And he's like, oh, being whatever you want. She goes, no. And being really forceful. What do you want to do? Do anything you want to me. And it's getting really heated. And then he just grabs her chin and opens her mouth and spits right in her mouth. And then immediately comes yeah. And then starts crying.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: It's pretty great.
Ryan: It's one of the highlights of the movie.
Laura: It's very funny. I liked it very much.
Ryan: But it's weird because he goes back and they have a conversation with Anna and he talks about the spitting in her mouth. And she's like, well, I wanted you to spit in my mouth. But then it's like, why would you think I would be into something like that? And all this sort of stuff.
Laura: She's very confusing.
Ryan: And I'm like, well, yeah, I don't think they need to be together. You start to see all these cracks begin to show. You've just watched a movie, effectively, of somewhat like, of a couple self sabotaging themselves and then thinking it would be okay when they get to the end of it. And it's obviously not. I do like that line that Gershon gives to Will. Obviously jumping around a little bit where she goes, you smell like my father.
Laura: Oh, my.
Ryan: Gina Gershon's got all the best stuff because there's a point where Will goes over to break off, and then she's dressed as a geisha.
Laura: Geisha gershon.
Ryan: Yeah, geisha. Gershon. And she's got, like, some little boy, some little man. Young man, twinkie dude. And it was close to being a penis scene, but you see the base, but you just see a lot of the, uh you see the brush, but none of the trunk.
Laura: It's like, not as cool as when Brad Pitt opens the door in Fight.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Where you see the bush and base.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: It's not as cool as that, but.
Ryan: No, it's just some weird young man yeah. Slight, slender bodied twinkie boy just kind of standing there like, are you going to punish me now?
Laura: Get in the room, Geisha Gershon.
Ryan: Yeah. Um, as you might expect, there's a lot of, like I don't know if you remember. Do you know the term? It refers to, like, the goose, uh, and the gander. That's kind of what I feel like Anna's character is kind of behaving a.
Laura: Little bit like, what is the exact ah.
Ryan: Um, how do you say it? I'd need to figure it out because I put it in my notes. It's just goose and gander. Like, I would just fucking remember, but I can't remember it. Um, but, yeah, as you might expect, the end of the movie kind of self explanatory. It doesn't work out for them.
Laura: It doesn't work out for them. He finally finishes the house, and she's like, if I go in, I'm never going to leave. He's like, that's the point. Which maybe just leave. Uh, she didn't deserve him anyway, I don't think. He seems like a nice man. He rubbed your feet and everything.
Ryan: They're both to blame for the fuck uppery of this whole thing. And they believed that that guy, uh, at The Conversation. And they have a little that gay couple have a blow up as well.
Laura: Everyone breaks up.
Ryan: Everyone breaks up. And it's like, okay, great. Um, what was the point of I.
Laura: Do think that at least in terms of her story and her character growth, this is what she needed, and it's not what Will needed. Apparently, what's good for the goose is.
Ryan: Good for the gander. So it's like, basically, um, um, she's able to do what she wants, but then she's not going to be happy with whatever he's doing. That sort of thing. That sort of idea.
Laura: Okay. Uh, there it is.
Ryan: So it's used to say that one person or situation should be treated the same way that another person or situation is treated. Pretty much.
Laura: The golden rule.
Ryan: Kind of. Yeah, kind of. Um, but yeah, it's like neither one of them has the right to take offense or realize there's a problem with what they're doing. But again, that's why you stipulate rules and ideas beforehand. Otherwise it's just a fucking bloodbath at the end of it.
Laura: You got to work on your communication skills if you're going to do such a risky endeavor.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: That's all. That's all it is. And you need a safe word.
Ryan: You do.
Laura: So if you think it's gone too far and you want it to stop, you should be able to explain that.
Ryan: Geronimo.
Laura: Absolutely.
Ryan: Yeah. Geronimo or Oklahoma.
Laura: That's probably another monster mash.
Ryan: Yeah. Well, that's two words though. You just need the one word.
Laura: My safe word can be yeah.
Laura: So I don't have a lot of other information about this film, but it's a film that everyone can watch. And it's a Christmas holiday film.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Even though they never bring it up. But there are Christmas trees in this movie.
Ryan: Yeah. It's obviously the cold season in New York because everyone's wearing thick jackets and stuff like that.
Laura: I think that it looks nice. I think this film does look nice. And I think that, uh, uh, all the pink neon I don't hate that's.
Ryan: Fine. Well, yeah, I mean, the neon sign, it's like a chiefs neon sign. Did you notice that?
Laura: Chiefs.
Ryan: The Chiefs. Yeah. It's like a kind of chief symbol in his apartment.
Laura: M. There's also a pink flamingo. There's pink neon lights everywhere.
Ryan: I don't really understand why that is, but I guess I don't really need to. It's obviously been a decision.
Ryan: There's like visual kind of flourishes and stuff in the film. There's a lot of overhead shots and things like that. Um, I just don't know if it's I wish there was just a little bit more kind of style and, um, flourishes, I guess, throughout the film to kind of give it tell us some of the story with the way that you use the camera, not just tell the story.
Laura: I liked it.
Ryan: Yeah. If it's meant to be funny, do stuff with the camera that can make it funny. If it's meant to be dramatic, do stuff with the camera that will make it dramatic. Like, just do things with it. As opposed to it being like, here's a two shot. There's your conversation. Let's move on.
Laura: There's some nice shots in it, but.
Ryan: Why don't nothing that's memorable to me, unfortunately.
Laura: There's one shot that I keep thinking about with Hale lying on the couch when he's growing that weird mustache and he's like, you just go to bed. I'm not talking about this baby. Thing anymore. And it is like it's from above. And you see Reese's feet just a little bit. And I remember that shot. I liked it. M, I'm a filmmaker. Now, listen to me.
Ryan: Yeah, well, please don't take your pointers from permission because it'll be a fucking boring piece of shit.
Laura: Oh my gosh.
Laura: All right. Ah, let's get into the ratings. Um, I'm going to go first just because I feel like it.
Ryan: Yeah, I'm probably not going to have too much to see.
Laura: So in terms of visibility and context, I'm going to go with a three. Um, very casual, very honest. And also there's a good balance of nudity between the males and females in the film. M, there's butts, there's boobs, there's everything. You've got male full frontal nudity. So you get everything. And it's very balanced. And I can appreciate that. Also, just the way that it is shot and I don't know, just the general context of the whole thing makes complete sense. Um, and the visibility is there. You don't have to pause it.
Ryan: Yeah, it's just kind of middle of the road for me as well. So I'd probably say like a two and a half. I like the fact that it's honest. I mean, if there was no nudity in this movie that's effectively about sex, we would be asking some kind of serious questions about the clarity of what the project's meant to be.
Laura: There's also that one shot of Dan Stevens when they're doing the ecstasy and he has that perfectly placed bit of cloth, um, over his crotch, which I found very annoying.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: But also you can see it when he moves that he's wearing, like, black boxers.
Ryan: He's wearing black boxers. Although I feel like they are kind of added on afterwards because it seems weird that they would just kind of appear because they look a lot bigger than they would you would have seen them in the other shot.
Laura: Yes. Because it is very delicately placed over his groin. So anyway, yeah, I did have a two and a half originally as well.
Ryan: Yeah, I'm just going to give it two and a half. I like the fact that it's casual and I like the fact that it's honest, but it's nothing. Uh, yeah, um, I'm glad it's there, but then it would be OD if it wasn't there. So there's that. Absolutely. Ah, beggars can't be choosers sort of reaction to it.
Laura: Um, I gave the film a three. I think I originally had also given that a two and a half when I first watched it. But again, like I said, I liked it a little bit more the second time I watched it.
Ryan: Yeah, the movie is sitting at a 2.8 on Letterboxd. It's not particularly loved, but I think it's relatively inoffensive for the most part because it's kind of like if it took the story further, it would be a little bit more. I think it would be a little bit more interesting, but then it's also kind of veering off into obscurity. Um, so I only gave it two because it doesn't go far enough. And there's some choices in it that I feel like I've kind of covered already.
Laura: It's not for you.
Ryan: It's just not my cup of tea.
Laura: It's exactly the kind of movie I would watch. It's exactly the kind of movie when you got people sitting on the couch and you're flipping through and you're like, I like these two people.
Ryan: It's forgettable tripe.
Laura: And I can watch this easily, and I don't have to think about it too hard. And everyone's really good looking.
Ryan: It will not affect you in the least if you take the time to watch it.
Laura: Absolutely. And it's not that long, and, uh.
Ryan: That'S probably the best thing I can.
Laura: Say about it an easy watching, not too long film, which is a lot of what I look for in a, um, film sometimes on a difficult day.
Ryan: Yeah, it's a good background movie. You can stick it on in the background. You have to pay too much attention, and then it's finished.
Laura: If you say so.
Ryan: Yeah, I would say so.
Laura: Well, there we go. I mean, if hey, everyone out there, if you find any more Christmas movies with penises in them, please let us know for next year. We're good for this year. We've got it covered. Don't worry. There we go. Make sure to follow us on social media, all the regular places, and then you can find out what movies we're doing next. And you can send us recommendations if there's things you want us to do. We may or may not comply. Depends on the mood.
Ryan: O-N-T-H-E-B-I-T-T-E if you haven't figured that out already.
Laura: Yes, that's the podcast. And you can find us everywhere. So thank you for discussing this film that you didn't love with me, Ryan. I appreciate it. And yeah, coming to you from a pink neon lit bachelor pad, I've been Laura breath.
Ryan: Do you think I smell like my father?
Laura: I've never smelled your dad.
Ryan: No, you've never met my dad. Shit.
Laura: Uh oh, my God. I want to meet that dad.
Ryan: Uh, this is over.