Echo Park (2014)

Sadly Over-hyped

Best movie of this year hands down!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Minor spoilers -- I hadn't seen Helen Slater in anything since the 1980s... i LOVED Ruthless People and Secret of My Success. Echo Park stars Mamie Gummer and Anthony Okungbower. E.P. begins with Sophie and Alex meeting up to discuss buying a couch. Lots of outdoor Los Angeles scenery. This also moves at a "relaxed" pace; a study in relationships. Alex is trying to sell his house and move, but some wrenches (and Sophie's ex) fall into the works, so we will see how that affects Sophie and Alex. This one appears to have hit a couple of film festivals, then straight to Netflix ? There is ONE patch right in the middle where you have to crank up the volume to hear anything. Microphone placement issue (?) when they are walking down the street. Cute story. Nothing big or earthshaking here, but it's an interesting study of relationship-timing. Friendships too. Beginnings, endings, it's all about timing. VERY predictable, but cute. Written by Catalina Mastretta, who has been in the biz for ten years. Directed by Amanda Marsalis, the first and only project for her so far.

Is there a plot? Or just people buying coffee, houses, plane tickets, cameras, whatever. This film drifts along, as though the entire cast, and maybe the writer, were on Qualudes. And does anyone work? At all? Even a little? Pointless, ridiculous, childishly simplistic.Sophie moves to LA to escape her boyfriend, who likes her too much. She has a casual affair with guy she buys sofa from. Boyfriend moves to LA to pursue her. Meanwhile, she buys entire house from sofa guy, with no more concern than one buys a pack of gum because 'she wants something of her own'. Sofa guy moves back to England, she dumps boyfriend, fade out with elevator music as Sophie looks knowing and satisfied. The End.

I usually hate movies about Godless nobodies meandering their way through their pathetic L.A. lives. But this one did have redeeming qualities.The core of the entire story involves this British black guy who in a sense is jealous that others have found long term commitments. They are willing to stick them out even when they are not fun. Meanwhile he's a romantic dreamer who has never made it past a year with a woman.The best line in the movie is when he describes love as only sticking around when you're happy, and the girl disagrees. She says that you can still be in love when you are not happy.When two friends go back to their partners, this guy feels betrayed, because he wants others to feel the same state of anomie that he has always felt. Misery loves company.The film could have benefited from a line by anyone explaining that he is the immature one. Although I guess there was one phone message that did that partially.On another topic; in what universe would multiple men be competing for the attention of that woman? I'm not trying to be mean. But her character was boring and depressed, and she's not exactly a temptress.Yes there was a slight Hollywood political message in here. People in places like Echo Park are keeping it real, and those in Beverly Hills are shallow and superficial. Fortunately they did not smash you over the head with it.My experience with Echo Park is that the people are posers and hipsters. Yuck. The other thing is, they don't show you how the woman makes a living. There is one shot of her at some non-descript job. You have no idea how the Hispanic guy pays his bills, nor how the British guy was able to purchase a home if he worked in a record store and then was unemployed. I guess he had some unsatisfying job as a "Music Supervisor" in Hollywood and quit or something.There are too many forced shots of people thinking with an Echo Park or downtown L.A. background. I get it that they were trying to make the town a character, but it was too forced.Also, I get tired of these Indies using emotional music and slow pacing to convey how depressed real life is.The big surprise was the black male character. I was expecting him to either be some kind of African immigrant stereotype or an American hip- hop poser. Instead he was a sensitive nerd from England, with just the right amount of self-deprecating nuances. You don't see those types of black folks portrayed often.Look, it was a good movie. It was written and directed by women, so the men may have seemed a bit neutered. But all the people were decent, caring individuals.I loved the ending. People did what they should have done. Ending a chapter in your life can be really melancholic, but sometimes it has to be done.To me the message is that relationships take commitment and hard work, and are not always "fun" in the way we fantasize when we're young. But you stick with them and build equity. That's what life is all about.Our main guy has no committed relationship, no real home town, and an inability to find the kind of work that satisfies him. He's kind of a loser, but still a very nice guy.But don't let these Indies trick you into believing that most people live this way. There is a core of committed middle class folks all over the place living productive, upbeat lives.

A brilliant first film by director Amanda Marsalis, 'Echo Park' succeeds in bringing interesting and unique characters to life. Actors Tony Okungbowa and Mamie Gummer deliver the performances of their careers in an intimate portrayal of characters from different worlds brought together in Echo Park. By making the distinctive area of Los Angeles, Echo Park, into a character of its own, it joins the ranks of other great films like Chinatown, Midnight in Paris, and LA Story.This is an independent film that dares to tell a story about Los Angeles that does not rely on Hollywood stereotypes and plot devices and story clichés that permeate most movies produced in Hollywood. (Most of those films are not even shot in Los Angeles, but move their productions overseas, or up north to Canada to save money). The look of the film is not just emulating Echo Park, it IS Echo Park. For this reason I recommend this film to everyone. It is superb.