Movie review: The sister act

The dialogue and acting in Your Sister's Sister is unexpectedly natural and realistic throughout.

Some have labeled Lynn Shelton’s latest film “mumble-core,” but I’m not really sure what that is, so I’ll just ignore it and continue on with an assessment of its merits from someone who had no preconceived notions of what it would be like.

Mark Duplass, an indie veteran who has been quite busy in 2012, makes his feature film debut here. I can honestly say I haven’t seen him before this (I checked, haven’t seen his movies) yet he seemed strangely familiar throughout.

A year after his brother Tom’s death, Jack (Mark Duplass) is still struggling emotionally. When he makes a scene at a memorial party, Tom’s best friend Iris (Emily Blunt) offers up her family cabin on an island in the Pacific Northwest so Jack can seek catharsis in solitude. At this point it feels like it’s going to be another journey-to-wholeness affair, with that trope introduced unexpectedly early in the narrative arc, before there’s much of a true exposition to help us get to know the characters. But instead Jack finds the first of a few (un)pleasant surprises, as he won’t be alone at the cabin. He runs into Iris’ sister Hannah (Rosemarie Dewitt) who is reeling from the abrupt end of a seven-year relationship and finds solace in Tom’s unexpected presence. The plot takes interesting twists as soon as Iris shows up, though it never deviates from the three principle characters. We know something bad will probably happen, but we’re not quite sure what, even though Jack in particular anticipates major problems.

The dialogue and acting, especially from Duplass, are unexpectedly natural and realistic throughout, punctuated with moments of real charm. Duplass has the same flawed doofus guy means well aura as Seth Rogen, albeit subtler and not quite as crude.

The ending is a little far-fetched, but is redeemed by dialogue that’s more conventional sounding, but no less touching and honest.  When it comes down to it, it’s all about the love. That, and perspective.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 6^th, 2013.

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