Ceremony (2011)

CEREMONY is one of the brighter starts to rise out of Hollywood this year. Though it was made in 2010 and released on Demand TV before its ultimate release on theaters, it is hopefully going to gather the audience it so richly deserves. It is a young work: the writer/director is Max Winkler, son of Henry Winkler, a bright young talent who essentially makes his debut with little sparkler. Not only has he come up with a fresh idea for a story but he has also matched that story with a script that is at all times warmly entertaining and at many points a sensitive, philosophical examination of relationships today. And he has cast the film with some of the finest young actors on screen at present.

Sam Davis (Michael Angarano, a brilliant young actor in his early 20s, so memorable in the deeply touching 'One Last Thing') writes children's books and lives in the child like fantasies of kids. He has a friend Marshall Schmidt (Reece Thompson, another early 20s bright young talent) who happens to show up as the only member of an audience to hear Sam read his latest new children's book. The two boys rekindle their friendship, stagnant for the past year while Marshall recovered from an altercation and hid in his parents home while Sam had a momentary encounter with a beautiful 30s something woman Zoe (Uma Thurman). The two lads decide to take a little trip to ostensibly to get Marshall out of his parent's home to see the world, but in actuality Sam has heard that Zoe is marrying some wealthy guy, Whit Coutell (Lee Pace, another brilliant actor remembered for his shattering performance in 'Soldier's Girl'), at Whit's lavish seaside home.

Sam and Marshall mend long absent feelings of closeness and taking some daring steps they drive to the seaside estate, obtain an invitation to Zoe's party (her wedding to Whit Actually) from Zoe's drunken brother Teddy (Jake M. Johnson). Sam confronts Zoe, stating his love and his desire to marry her, but Zoe needs more than a young kid to satisfy her and sees the opportunities of marrying the moneyed Whit. In a series of incidents both hilarious at times and deeply tender at others all characters discover new concepts of relationships. How the film ends is left for the viewer to discover.

Michael Angarano is pitch perfect as Sam, a young man whose ideals are tested and who must learn the adult role. His skills are so polished at this young stage in his career that he is bound to become a major star. Reece Thompson is not far behind, and Uma Thurman gives one of her most well rounded performances. Lee Pace makes the most of his role, sparkling as the reigning optimist of the story. But in the end most of the credit for the success of this little gem is due to the talent of Max Winkler who writes as well as he directs: he is a formidable force. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, April 11

This was actually a very believable and fun film, and it finally gave Lee Pace a chance to show his acting range before being possibly typecast with the upcoming Twilight and Hobbit roles.

The story follows a twenty-something played neurotically well by Angarano (who showed great maturity in Gentlemen Broncos [Blu-ray]) who cannot get over falling for a forty-something played by Uma Thurman. He finds a way to try and crash her remote upstate New York wedding and pre-party while using his friend as a cushion and unbeknownst helper. The story has some comedic, yet realistic moments highlighted by the best performance (and comic relief role) in the film with Jake Johnson playing the perpetually drunk brother of the bride.

The Blu quality is standard, with there being some nice views of the island they filmed at and around. The clarity is not superb or benchmark, nor is the DTS and the yellow lens bled out the brightness, like Winkler was trying to make it look retro (which when you let the menu play customers thought it looked like a 70s film). The weakness of this product though are the Blu supplements, which in this volume of bad quality makes it hard for me to rate the product any higher than four:

* Deleted scenes, 2 minutes. Glad they were cut as they would have made for some tedious additions.

* Outtakes, 2:35 minutes. Unfunny and could have been left off the disc.

* Extended scene, 2:36 minutes. The only supplement I liked it was from the dinner table scene and involved more Jake Johnson comedy (I remember him most as the roommate in No Strings Attached (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)), mistake to cut it.

* Making of, 21:47 minutes. A very dry interview and clip laden piece with the mains and director dissecting their roles and love for each other, skipper.

* Max Winkler Makes Ceremony, 8:18 minutes. A strange mix of tabletop interviews and behind the scenes showcasing his thinking out loud process. I suppose any huge fans of his will want to see this.

* Behind the scenes footage, 7:17 minutes. Big mistake to include this as it was either meant to show how bored people were in between takes, or was providing a yearbook clip of the moments wanting to be forgotten during production, skipper.

* A Year in a Tent, 3:50 minutes. The full length clip/short film of Lee Pace's character in Africa. LoDef and slightly tedious, but worth the watch if you liked the clips left in the film.

* HDNet promo, 4:25 minutes. Did not even look HD and grabbed quips from the other supplements here.

English language with subs in same and Spanish. I did not see any real benchmark Blu clarity on sound or picture (though still worthy to see) and the supplements were hopefully a lesson in how-to and what not to include for this first-time feature director. I liked the outcome (not your typical ending) and it is quirky enough to give it a comedy tag. Four for the film and zero for the rest.

Buy Ceremony (2011) Now

I watched this entire movie. I say that because pretty much from the first five minutes, I was questioning the wisdom of continuing all the way up until the end. While it was approaching decent as endings go, it really wasn't worth the painful chore of sitting through it. I can't believe it's flashing up the same reviews as much better movies, though the fact that it has only 11 reviewers speaks volumes.

The characters were two-dimensional, the story was drawn out to the point of being drawn thin, and the movie as a whole is A COMPLETE BORE-FEST. Ultimately, I just didn't care about any of the characters-they were wet-toilet-paper thin, and boredom seemed to be their only motivations for doing ultimately pointless things. Sure, there were attempts at exploring deeper themes and their resolutions, but they were primitive and trite; nothing here is worth the amount of time and film that this movie wastes.

Pass on this clunker and watch "Hi Fidelity" instead-it's a much better version of the same kind of story: a self-centered central character on an awkwardly-painful-to-watch tirade who eventually finds himself and turns out to be a decent guy. And it has other characters who are actually interesting and shallow in all the right places.

Read Best Reviews of Ceremony (2011) Here

I loved Ceremony and was shocked it didn't get a wider release in theaters. Angarano is brilliant and Jake Johnson gives one of my favorite performances in a long time. If you're looking for a very unique, fresh new movie filled with young talent check this out.

Want Ceremony (2011) Discount?

I could not get past about 20 minutes into the movie. The main character does not talk like any guy I've ever met saying things like "drinkies, snackies, and you silly goose" to another guy? really? He annoyed the heck out of me, so I couldn't have cared less about why he was doing what he was doing.

Save 32% Off