In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007) Reviews

• Superb romantic comedy with a poignant portrayal of young people yearning for love. Amazing shots in and around L.A.

  usmetro2008-02-25

  Very special movie about millennium love in L.A. It brought tears of both empathy and joy to my wife's eyes. Great date movie because the guys like it, too. Lots of spontaneous laughs from the audience, even without cue cards. Images of Sara Simmonds as Vivian, the female lead, may stay with you and even haunt you for a long time. The writer/director, Alex Holdridge, has created real life characters that we can relate to because they seem like real people. You also get a most interesting background story revealed in graphic images of old Los Angeles, including a visit inside buildings of the old theater district, whose musty stages are now dark and silent forever. See this movie. You won't be disappointed. Strap on your seat belt, though, because Vivian will take you on a "Looking for true love" ride that is different, fun, happy, sad, snappy, and in the end, most pleasurable. I look forward to director Alex Holdridge's next movie.

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• Before Midnight.

  Benedict_Cumberbatch2008-09-29

  Finding love – or any sort of emotional bond, or even just a one night stand – on the web might not be easier than in the "real world", but it's certainly a way to start looking for that someone if you're too shy or depressed to go out and meet people. Alex Holdridge's extremely low-budget, black-and-white "In Search of a Midnight Kiss", is another variation of the "brief encounter" subgenre ("Lost In Translation", "Before Sunrise/Sunset") that I just love, and one of the finest feel good movies of the year. Despite some clichéd gimmickry of first-time filmmakers (this is Holdridge's third feature, actually), the movie relies on the chemistry of its protagonists, Scoot McNairy and Sara Simmonds, who are up for the task. McNairy plays Wilson, who just got dumped by his long-term girlfriend (this is semi-autobiographical – Holdridge got dumped by his girlfriend and had his laptop stolen in real life, just like Wilson in the movie), who posts a Craigslist ad following a friend's idea. He decides to meet the first woman who calls him, Vivian (Simmonds), a chain-smoking, temperamental aspiring actress. But they hit it off. The movie is essentially their day together, while we wonder whether they will share a New Year midnight kiss or not... "In Search of a Midnight Kiss" will be enjoyed by those who had a similar experience (that is, finding a nice person online – that can be as unlikely as getting randomly picked by a Belgian hottie on his last night in America - but I met my best friend online, so yes, these things CAN happen!), or those who dream of finding someone special. This film proves that a not so original premise and lack of technical resources can still make a good movie if the talents involved are able to make you want to go for the ride with them. And this search was a lovely ride. 8.5/10.

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• A highly enjoyable, realistic, funny emotional journey

  LeedsPokerGuru2008-10-23

  Just finished my first viewing of the film. I feel compelled to write a review in the hope that it persuades just 1 more person to see this film. This film is a great piece of writing, directing and acting. It's just a great film. That fact that it is not perfect makes the film as close to perfect as you can get. Just when I was thinking I would have wrote/shot this scene differently because I got annoyed with it I realised maybe the point was to invoke the emotion. What to expect is nicely paced movie which, as expected, focuses on the 2 main characters and the dialogue they have. You will laugh out loud, you will get annoyed, you will feel up, you will feel down and you will feel some genuine heart ache. Not to mention everything feels real. The scene just after they have some chewing gum is SO REAL to me that I find it hard to believe most people have not had an experience exactly like that. Honestly I kind of sad that Hollywood is built in such a way that many people won't get to see or hear of this movie. Do your bit and spread the word. BRILLIANT. Buy this film. Watch it and tell your friends to watch it.

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• It rambles, redeems itself, and ultimately works - and how it works!

  Chris_Docker2007-07-26

  Can love be found in the sparkle of damp streets? A soft-focus moment as desire is swept and sublimated into the tenderest kiss? Do these scenes elicit warm memories for you? Or is it an emotional jack-off to a place you want to be in but can't? In the last few days of each year, activity on sites like MySpace and Craigslist swells 300%. So many looking for love on New Year's Eve. Our ex-video-clerk (and award-winning film-maker), Alex Holdridge, has made them a movie. A dark, perverted, gritty, romantic comedy that, like a new relationship, comes with big indie warts-and-all. Then turns them around in an artsy, offbeat triumph. Opening black-and-white photography of couples kissing exudes style. Tasteful snogging on sidewalks. Smooching by a river. Under neon. Christmas illuminations. Streetlights and shadows, and quiet corners. Sinatra croons "As Time Goes By" and a convenient voice-over says: "It's not just another kiss - it's all the hope of romance of the year culminating in just one moment." But lets get real a minute. Our protagonist, love-luckless Wilson, is segueing the female half of one such scene into a private erotic fantasy. It features his best friend's girlfriend, Min. (Here the comedy plays to our discomfort). Determined to find him a life, Jacob and Min cajole him into placing an online dating ad. Vivian, neurotic blonde with openly cut-throat approach, soon 'interviews' Wilson as her potential New Year's Eve date. Gutsy performances and shambolic production values keep Midnight Kiss rooted to some recognisable reality rather than the glossy romcom it could easily have become. Rambling dialogue is cringeworthy from the characters' awkwardness rather than lack of writing talent. What at first sight seems like an amateurish losers' mess, gradually earns its wings as human interaction shows Wilson to be more substantial and interesting than his tosser persona would credit; and Vivian to be more human than her pill-popping intro would have us believe. Vivian's location sets were almost too realistic for the film's own good it seems. Twice, the cast and crew were threatened with police action when downmarket hotel managers were spooked by the sight of empty liquor bottles and prescription drug pill boxes. Much of the movie is made in downtown Los Angeles or Sunset Boulevard - surrounded by derelict theatres and decrepit hotels. But its verité style lovingly exposes both the city's decay and its beauty. Originally conceived as bitter critique, its ultimate appeal (like 'thelostshoeproject.com' that Vivian champions - 'everyone is searching for something') is one of jewels in the dust. Pacing is adroitly achieved through abrupt changes in emotional resonance. From initial, self-consciously polished cinematography, we are thrown into Wilson's desultory world. And just as we want to lose patience with him, Vivian erupts into the dialogue, kicking ass all the way from Texas to L.A. A subplot involving Jacob and Min's romance distracts us long enough for the outcome of Wilson and Vivian's date to develop the needed tension. And perhaps the fact that the film doesn't sell out at the end persuades us to view the whole episode more kindly. The palpably low-budget allows the skills of the filmmakers to shine through - whereas a market-perfect production could well have glossed over them. Rather than a movie for couples out on a date, In Search of A Midnight Kiss is for all the people who wish they were out on a date. Or for couples brave enough to ask if they are any better off. The film, for all its flaws, connects in a way that sanitised romantic comedy can not. Perhaps in idealising love it is all too easy to ignore the grubbier roots and miss what is in front of our eyes.

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• Loved it!

  envoutant2007-05-13

  This movie was great. The cast meshed well together. Felt like it was something I could relate to. Everyone has a year they "don't want to get out of bed and acknowledge New Year's Eve" and all it stands for. Ialso enjoyed seeing Twink Caplan again. I loved her in Clueless. Trying to find a date for New Year's Eve is something we can all relate to and In Search of a Midnight Kiss makes it something we've all been through or felt. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone of any age. I felt it was just the right length. I can't wait for it to open nationally so my friends and family can also enjoy it. Well worth the ten bucks which seems to be rare these days.

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