Filed under: Film Reviews | Tags: brooklyn, chris messina, ivan martin, love, marriage, monogamy, movies, nat, netflix, new york, rashida jones, relationships, reviews, theo
“Monogamy,” at its core, is about so much more than a “struggling couple” as so many synopses collect. What I got from it was a much deeper look into sexual deviancy and how we all possess it whether we care to accept such a fact, or try and reject it because we’re convinced we’re “normal;” we’d never do that. (“That” being proverbial here…) Starring Chris Messina as Theo and Rashida Jones as Nat, these two very attractive Brooklyn-dwellers are engaged and hitting a rough patch. It’s an interesting progression… Seeing Nat shy away from Theo subtly gets the gears turning in your head: “Was that a little bit of rejection…?” And as the film continues on you begin seeing the rift between them grow wider and wider. What’s interesting about “Monogamy” is that no one ever does anything necessarily wrong… but no one is doing anything right, and the moral dilemma that played out in my head left me wondering who I was rooting for in the end.
There’s a poignant scene where Theo lashes out at Nat and says, “How come you never wanna fuck me? You don’t want to fuck me, do you?” Nat’s left speechless in this scenario, unsure what to say next. As the omniscient audience, we know what the answer is, but the big question is, what will she end up feeding him? You see, Theo’s starting to get it in his head that him and Nat need more sex, more animalistic drive. He’s getting these notions from a photography client code-named “Subgirl” who is hiring him to take voyeuristic photos of her doing dirty deeds like masturbating in a park or having sex with an abrasive man and what starts out as a simple job turns into a sexual fascination. What Theo’s not seeing though is that while maybe Nat isn’t delivering on the sex, she’s giving him so much more and she, too, wants so much more than physical pleasure. It’s this lack of understanding that makes up the main conflict in “Monogamy.”
From a technical standpoint “Monogamy” lives and breathes like a typical indie flick from New York. It’s a bit grainy, it’s trying really hard to be mature, and it contains a lot of dialogue meant to be gritty, but ends up feeling a bit stilted, almost like an Off-Off-Broadway production about bohemians trying to survive themselves. But the story is actually pretty good. The pacing is nice and by the movie’s end when all the pieces come together and there’s the big “Ah-ha!” moment, it feels rewarding; I certainly enjoyed my investment into “Monogamy.” Chris Messina and Rashida Jones do a great job acting; this is easily Jones’ best role to date. However, I will admit I think she was cast improperly. Jones isn’t cut out for “gritty” and I never could see her as truly being “Nat.” But being objective? Yeah, she nails her performance. There’s actually a really great scene between Messina and actor Ivan Martin where Theo is showing how obsessed he’s become over “Subgirl” and Martin gets in his face about how ridiculous he’s being that really gave the film some “umph.” There are some intense moments that really push “Monogamy” into greatness that make it a bit more sophisticated and a bit more polished than other indie flicks of the same ilk.
If you’re perusing Netflix in need of a good, solid film about love and what it means to be in a relationship, check out “Monogamy.” I found it worthwhile and enjoyed the performances immensely. Just make sure you’re a fan of the genre before diving in.
Final Say: 3 Stars. (Please check side column for Rating Scale.)
Like this:
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
