It’s an odd thing, watching a movie in which you know the lead character is destined to die. Yet, that’s exactly the fate in store for Deke Masters (Jeremy Sisto), a suave yuppie destined to wrap his car around a telephone pole while juggling a joint and trying to switch Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanta Have Fun” off his radio dial. Lawrence Greenberg’s clever and amusing short introduces us to Deke a few hours before this ignominious demise, as he arrives at Emily’s house for what may or may not be a date. No matter, as Emily (Devon Odessa) isn’t even there. Instead, she’s off starring in an “underground” movie and flirting with its pretentious director Christian Bell (Michæl Des Barres). Thus, Deke spends the last evening of his life watching old movies with Emily’s eccentric dad (Alden Garfield), who encourages Deke to sleep with his pretty but schizophrenic and agoraphobic daughter Barri (Poppy Montgomery). Hovering in the background, yet not directly connected to this unfolding drama, looms Richmond (Devon Gummersall), the lonely loser who will, in a lethal act of synchronicity, phone in the request for Lauper’s obnoxious hit to the radio.
“Men Named Milo, Women Named Greta” is an oddball, wryly facetious study of the laws of cause and effect in miniature. While this is the umpteenth film dealing, at least in part, with filmmaking, at least it doesn’t dwell on the subject too much. Instead, it primarily focuses on the emerging, slightly surreal relationship between Deke and Mr. Noodleman; a good choice, as their exchanges are the highlight of this quirky little film. “Men Named Milo, Women Named Greta” is a little on the pointless side, but then, so is the last night in the life of smarmy yuppie cipher Deke Masters.
