Told over six mini episodes (total running time just over 65 minutes), The Nature of Us is a two-hander in the foreground (Elly, properly confused, artistically hopeful Benjamin Piers and Yonah, convincingly seeking a soulmate while penning a few immortal lines is Sean Manucha), with a complementary one-on-one (Rowen, adeptly unafraid to sleep with a man while pining for her own same-sex partner is Alison Newton while Emma readily does her part as the lesbian who is happy to grow much more than crops) lurking in the background. In a small but pivotal part as the temporary local art gallery director, Matteo Correa playing Dre does yeoman’s service, handily seducing the latest artist-in-residence (briefly on sabbatical from his main interest).
But let’s stop right there and delve more deeply into what doesn’t work or is lacking in narrative believability before collectively savouring what does.
In the opening sequence, Elly is being released from a “Mental Hospital”, obliged to take a regimen of pills, but we never discover his prognosis. A most convenient car failure from Rowen (miraculously/temporarily cured on the way to the town’s best mechanic) is fixed in a cable minute by Yonah, with nary a wait or a charge (a laughable moment based on my long experience with auto repair shops…). But there’s an important thing! Rowen, who sleeps in the same bed as the newly “freed” Elly, sets him up with the recently self-outed under-the-hood specialist (apparently, oblivious to them both during previous high school attendance). Perhaps worst of all, the suddenly connected young men have a penchant for coffee (nothing wrong with that), but throughout the entire production, their favourite beverage (and that of others around them) is continuously served up in store-bought cups with nary a bit of proprietor branding. Really?
Rowen offers comfort to Elly during a vulnerable conversation on the porch in The Nature of Us.
“…move from winging it to (inevitably), the first kiss…”
Soon, the thrust-upon-each-other hopefuls spend a lot of time in nature (forest, beach, etc.). But the soundtrack soon overflows with too many birds chirping their heads off even as those below them move from winging it to (inevitably), the first kiss (thanks in large part to Shakespeare’s 18th Sonnet…). When the inevitable “close to you but maybe not…need to travel” conflict occurs, it’s Elly’s found, not-found cellphone that once more chips away at the believability factor. Alas, for those who were expecting a wee bit more skin, the inevitable coupling never finds the screen with only a morning-after hug to confirm the “deed”.
For those still reading, here’s what does work and makes director-writer Josh Fox’s portrait of emerging love still worth a look in The Nature of Us.
The writing (especially the dialogues) is so on-the-nose and the scenes so predictable that the simplicity of it all may well ring a bell for any of us who have experienced an unexpected love coming into our lives after a traumatic experience. Similarly, the f*g-hag-like relationship between Elly and Rowen (how wonderful to sleep with another with no fear of unwanted sexual advances; just genuine friendship). And who amongst us hasn’t dallied with a sudden interest while the main love of our lives seems to have abandoned whatever we’d have until Mr. Right Now walks through the door (in this case, also sporting an easel).
Do take a peek and judge for yourselves whether this instance of art imitates/initiates life rings true from your experience/POV in The Nature of Us.
"…a laughable moment based on my long experience with auto repair shops…"
