5 Star Day
Director: Danny Buday
Starring: Cam Gigandet, Jena Malone, Max Hartman, Brooklyn Sudano, Julianna Guill
5 Star Day
Director: Danny Buday
Starring: Cam Gigandet, Jena Malone, Max Hartman, Brooklyn Sudano, Julianna Guill
Gigandet, whose star has been rising thanks to his roles in such films as "Twilight," "Burlesque" and "Easy A," delivers a sensitive portrayal that proves he's more than just a hunk. Malone is as appealing as always, and Hartman is wonderfully fun as the Buster Poindexter-like singer. But the script lacks the depth to transcend its cutesy gimmick.
5 Star Day is a middling indie, but it offers evidence of how far a synthetic setup can get just by allowing characters to react and reflect.
Buday's astrology-themed romantic comedy boasts a promising premise, convincing chemistry between its attractive leads and fine thesping by a defensively edgy Jena Malone. But the uneven script, repetitive tropes and over-indulgence of actorly bits slow the pace, tipping youthful casualness into complacency.
A drippy ending erases all the hopes you've built up and forces you to conclude that this wasn't such a well-thought-out film after all.
Gigandet fills every close-up with flirtatious face wrinkles, embarrassed smiles, and anything else he can think of, to the point where Jake seems downright spastic; although not terribly good at acting, Gigandet seeks to compensate for this fact by doing a lot of it.
Danny Buday
Stony Brook Film Festival (2010)
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