Michael Strassner is the star, the writer and producer of this film. He's originally from Baltimore, Maryland. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy. He's appeared in a variety of sitcoms, including Parks and Recreation (2009), Modern Family (2009) and Young Rock (2021). He also produces a lot of sketch comedy videos that go viral on social media. I first became aware of Strassner in March 2021, at the 5th Annual Ocean City Film Festival, in Ocean City, Maryland, where his film Grace (2021) won Best Dramatic Short. In that film, Strassner played an aspiring comedian who contemplates suicide. His work returned in March 2023, at the 7th Annual Ocean City Film Festival with his short, Big Boy (2023) about a lonely man who engages in an intimate and possibly romantic encounter with an older woman, likely twice his age.
Until now, Strassner has only had short scripts produced. This is his debut feature and unsurprisingly he combines elements and themes from his previous works into this piece. He's partnered with filmmaker Jay Duplass who directed The Puffy Chair (2006), a scrappy road trip film. In the 20 years since that film premiered, Duplass has been involved with bigger budget and slicker productions, even acting in larger projects, but Duplass rather goes back to his roots here with Strassner's flick, which could also be described as a road trip film with many scenes occurring in the characters' cars.
Liz Larsen (Madoff and Law & Order) co-stars as Didi, a dentist with her own practice in Fells Point, near downtown Baltimore. She's called into her office on Christmas Eve when a guy has a tooth emergency. Unlike most dentists, Didi decides to work on Christmas Eve. She's reminiscent of Edie Falco from The Sopranos (1999). She's supposed to be hosting a dinner for her adult daughter, but her child is attending a party at her father's house. Didi is divorced, single and a grandmother, but, since her daughter chose to go to her father's house, Didi is left to spend the holiday alone.
However, Strassner's Cliff Cashen accidentally breaks a tooth and begins gushing blood. Cliff rushes over to Didi's office to get it fixed. Cliff was on his way to spend the holiday at his girlfriend's parents' house. Cliff doesn't seem to have any siblings. His dad is deceased and his mom lives in Florida. He does have other family. He has an uncle but his plans or goals don't involve any extended family. He's supposed to be with his girlfriend, but, as the day goes along, things happen that prevent him from returning to his girlfriend. As those things happen, he starts to realize that maybe he doesn't want to return.
Alcoholism factors into a lot of Strassner's work. It's no different here. Cliff is an alcoholic who is now six months sober. What's intimated is that prior to his sobriety, he was living a lifestyle that wasn't conducive to being alcohol-free. He says he used to be a bar-back. He's now striving to become a mortgage broker, which is more of a 9-to-5 desk job. Yet, that's not the life for him, and we come to see that he's scared to pursue the life he wants because he and others are worried it will hurt his sobriety. The events of this film ultimately push him to test that theory.
Olivia Luccardi (The Deuce and Orange Is the New Black) rounds out the cast as Brittany, the girlfriend and so-called fiancée of Cliff. She represents the force that is pulling him toward that 9-to-5 or "normal" life. It's not stated, but she's clearly been traumatized by the lows and depths of Cliff's alcoholism, which makes her super-freaked out at anything that could hurt his sobriety. Not wanting to freak her out is perhaps stifling him from pursuing something, which seems to be his passion. Cliff pursuing his passion seems to be an impulse or a deal breaker that the film doesn't explicate. Brittany could be okay with his passion, but that's not explored or depicted. She's simply the one against it.
As stated earlier, this is in effect a road trip film. The characters aren't doing a cross-country or even shorter interstate journey. It's basically the characters cruising all around Charm City. A large chunk takes place in the Hampden area and spotlights the iconic 34th Street and its famous Christmas lights, but various places in Baltimore get to shine or at least get name-checked in enjoyable ways to those who want to have some pride in the so-called "birdland." Yes, this film is a love letter to Baltimore.
Strassner has also crafted a love letter in general, a love letter for people who might not necessarily get love letters on the big screen. In Grace, Strassner's character has a photo of Robin Williams, meant to represent one of his heroes. There's certainly an aspect here that makes Strassner reminiscent of Williams in various ways. Williams was never really perceived as a handsome or even sexy, romantic lead. In this film, Strassner obliquely references Saturday Night Live (1975), and if Strassner were a cast-member on that show, he'd be comparable to John Belushi and I'm not sure that anyone would describe Belushi as a leading man or a romantic one. Strassner instead uses humor and being a persistent goofball rather than beefcake as the food of love here, although at one point he does feed Didi actual food. He's not a grizzly bear, as he claims. He's more a soft-shell crab that cracks not his exterior but instead corny jokes, and as a result is adorable, if not sometimes annoying.
Rated R for language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 39 mins.
In theaters, including Cinema Art Theater in Lewes, DE.