by Victor Pryor
The best thing about Appropriate Behavior is that it’s a funny and entertaining film. It’s always good to lead with that sort of thing, especially when the cultural politics of the film is going to be a major factor in the review.
Which brings us handily to the second best thing about the film, which is that it’s so casual about the lifestyles it portrays that you don’t even notice how bold it is until much later. It portrays characters and situations that are encountered all the time in the real world, but that are rarely captured on film, and does it in a way that isn’t even remotely showy or exploitative.
There is a version of this movie that is very easy to imagine: a smart-ass heroine verbally eviscerating one-dimensional whitebread dumb-asses; prudish folks clutching their pearls at the very idea of two girls being affectionate in public; a family that just doesn’t get it.
Which is where these movies tend to go wrong: deck stacking and lecturing and patting yourself on the back for not being “cookie cutter” or “mainstream.”
Writer-director-star Desiree Akhavan tells a very specific, very personal story, and in so doing speaks for all of us.
Neat trick, that.
Akhavan plays Shirin, an aimless Iranian-American Brooklynite recovering from her recent breakup with Maxine. She alternately plots to win her back and indulges in a series of casual hookups with men and women alike, all while trying to navigate life and teach children how to make films.
Again, there’s very little here that hasn’t been the focus of any number of “indie” comedies that have been glutting up the market. But the plot of a movie and how that plot is realized are two very different things, and here in Appropriate Behavior, it’s handled pretty damn well.
First, and I know I already said it once, but it certainly bears repeating: the movie is very, very funny. The humor isn’t too hip for the room, or mean spirited in any way. It is just the right shade of offbeat. As a performer, Akhavan has a nicely wry persona and an inherent charisma that keeps the viewer on her side even after she makes some really, really stupid life choices. And she surrounds herself with a highly capable cast and gives them lots of fun material to work with.
The champ is probably Scott Adsit as her boss Ken, a world class pot smoker and pleasantly inept parent. While when we first meet him he seems like he’s going to be the requisite “Clueless White Guy Authority Figure;” he instead fills the role of “Supportive, Emotionally Stunted Yet Vaguely Sage Older Dude.” Which is way more fun.
Halley Feffer as best friend Crystal shines as well. Her one-sided showdown with an aggressive lingerie saleswoman is a master class in mining laughs from simple slow burn reactions. And Anh Duong is warm and delightul as Shirin’s caring but concerned mother. Here again, the film skirts predictability. With her traditionalist way, you’re worried that the inevitable coming out scene (Shirin is pretty much out to everyone except her family) is going to draw blood. But it goes in a much different, much direction that we’ve been trained to expect.
In the end, there aren’t any villains here at all, which is nice.
Though I will say that Maxine just isn’t that cool.
Actually, she’s, like, super un-cool.
Rebecca Henderson gives a perfectly fine performance, and has an easy (if somewhat testy) chemistry with Akhavan, but as written, Maxine and Shirin seem to be on such different wavelengths that the fact they lasted a full year seems very odd.
Which, mind you, isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker: there’s nothing more relatable then desperately trying to get back into the good graces of someone who logic dictates you probably shouldn’t have anything to do with.
(And if you don’t think that’s ever happened to you, I can assure you that your friends emphatically disagree…)
But after a while, it stops making sense that she’s trying to win back this person who barely seems to understand her at all.
The scenes where Shirin tries to sleep with every cute boy or girl with a pulse make much more sense, and are way more fun to watch. One night stands, shameless booty dancing, and the most awkwardly real feeling threesome ever put on film. There are some moments here that some might read as transgressive, but that’s ridiculous. When you get right down to it, this is basically a romantic comedy.
But you know, with strap-ons and threesomes and stuff.
Listen, it’s the internet age: nothing here is shocking. But the fact that the stuff that happens here is treated with such casualness, such matter-of-fact acceptance is what separates it from the hordes of raunchy comedies vying for your hard earned dollars.
Hey, what can I tell you? This is just what the cool kids are up to these days…
It would be easy to oversell Appropriate Behavior. It’s not going to change the world or anything. At heart, it’s very much of a piece with a certain type of indie movie. But within the bounds of that admittedly overstuffed genre, it does things and has a point of view that’s refreshing and relatable.
I highly recommend it.
And threesomes.
But probably not in that order, though…
SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer (which I’m about to render superfluous…)
