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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2014)
MOVIES BY RICK LEVIN RETREAT FROM REALITY Couples therapy enters another dimension in The One I Love I really, really, really want to tell you what happens in The One I Love, the smart and slithery new movie by director Charlie McDowell, but I can’t. To reveal the device at the center of this cinematic mind-fuck about a married couple on the skids and their surreal, disarming and ultimately transformative experiences during a weekend retreat suggested by their therapist would be tantamount to breaking the first rule of Fight Club (“Don’t talk about fight club”) or spilling the beans on Rosebud in Citizen Kane (it’s the sled). Spoilers, even when they’re floated in sheer enthusiasm, are nothing but sour grapes — alert or no alert. I won’t do it. Instead, I’ll talk around this movie, in terms abstract but hopefully still helpful. I can tell you, safely, about the opening ten minutes of The One I Love, which introduce us to Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss), who are attempting to reinvigorate their ebbing romantic connection by recreating the night they met, when they jumped into a neighbor’s swimming pool and got caught. This time around, their excited jump into the pool is met with no resistance; they just float there, waiting to get busted, and as it becomes apparent that the neighbor is not home, we witness the mute, intimate disappointment that sucks the air out of long-term relationships. Enter the marriage counselor (Ted Danson) who, witnessing up close the dire state of Ethan and Sophie’s sexual stalemate, urges them to drive out to a country estate ELISABE TH MOSS AND MARK DUPL ASS for a little romantic getaway. Every couple he’s sent that way, he says, has come back renewed. They take the bait. And what happens out at that weekend retreat — a lush colonial complete with a separate “guest house” and a sort of home studio called “The Coop” — is indeed “renewing,” in the same way that, say, a gargantuan dose of LSD when you least expect it is renewing. The first half of the film is clever and insightful, as the strange happenings at the retreat bring Ethan and Sophie face-to-face with the impossible expectations they’ve placed on each other and the manner in which those expectations have calcified into resentment and dissatisfaction. And just as the conceit begins to wear thin, AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (DIG) (R) 11:50, 2:25, 5:05, 7:50, 10:25 THE EXPENDABLES 3 (DIG) (PG-13) 11:55, 3:35, 7:00, 10:00 FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY DAME TO KILL FOR (DIG) (R) 4:55, 10:20 GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) (DIG) (PG) 4:45, 10:10 GIVER, THE (DIG) (PG-13) 11:35, 2:05, 4:35, 7:20, 9:50 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (3D) (PG-13) 3D PRICING: $3.00 UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS 11:30, 1:00, 4:00, 5:25, 8:50, 10:00 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (DIG) (PG-13) 2:30, 7:00 HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (DIG) (PG) 11:15, 2:00, 4:40, 7:15, 9:55 THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY (DIG) (PG) 12:50, 3:45, 7:05, 10:05 BLENDED (PG-13) 11:45, 2:20, 4:55, 7:30, 10:05 DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (PG-13) 12:35, 3:35, 7:10, 10:00 EDGE OF TOMORROW (PG-13) 12:00, 2:30, 5:05, 7:40, 10:15 THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (PG-13) 12:20, 3:15, 7:00, 9:50 JERSEY BOYS (R) 12:30, 3:25, 7:05, 9:55 MALEFICENT (3D) (PG) 3D PRICING: $2.00 UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS 11:50, 4:50 THE IDENTICAL (DIG) (PG) 11:10, 1:50, 5:00, 7:45, 10:25 IF I STAY (DIG) (PG-13) 10:55, 1:35, 4:25, 7:20, 10:15 INTO THE STORM (DIG) (PG-13) 11:45, 2:20, 7:50 LET’S BE COPS (DIG) (R) 11:25, 2:10, 4:50, 7:40, 10:20 LUCY (DIG) (R) 11:40, 2:15, 5:10, 7:55, 10:15 THE NOVEMBER MAN (DIG) (R) 11:00, 1:40, 4:20, 7:25, 10:05 PLANES: FIRE AND RESCUE (DIG) (PG) 11:05, 1:45, 7:35 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (3D) (PG-13) 3D PRICING: $3.00 UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS 11:20, 1:55, 4:30, 6:10, 8:45 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (DIG) (PG-13) 12:45, 3:30, 7:30, 10:10 WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL (DIG) (PG) 12:55, 3:40, 7:10, 9:55 MALEFICENT (PG) 1:05, 3:20, 5:35, 7:55, 10:20 NEIGHBORS (R) 12:15, 2:40, 5:15, 7:45, 10:25 RIO 2 (3D) (G) 11:55, 2:25, 5:00, 7:35, 10:10 TAMMY (R) 12:10, 2:35, 5:10, 7:50, 10:25 TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION (PG-13) 12:05, 3:30, 6:55, 10:15 WISH I WAS HERE (DIG) (R) 2:15, 7:25, 10:00 X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (PG-13) 12:25, 3:40, 7:15, 10:30 growing a bit too cutesy, the movie takes a dark and devious turn, sending the already unnerved couple down a rabbit hole of suspicion, doubt and betrayal. Both Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed) and Moss (Mad Men) are excellent in roles that demand a high level of subtlety and sophisticated characterization; in fact, it is their on-screen chemistry, revealed in small, familiar gestures and knowing looks, that grounds this film, which otherwise might have taken a disastrous left turn into pure pretense. It is best not to ask the big “why” at the center of The One I Love, but rather to give in to the logic of it’s illogic, and let it lead you to its final Twilight Zone reckoning — an end game where desire and commitment take on a whole new meaning. ■ IMAX: FORREST GUMP 3D (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.1130 245 630 945 THE IDENTICAL (PG) Fri. - Sat.(1145) 445 730 1010 AS ABOVE, SO BELOW [CC,DV] (R) Fri. - Sat.(1235) 455 735 1000 GHOSTBUSTERS (PG) Fri. - Sat.(1230 PM) 1015 PM CANTINFLAS (NR) Fri. - Sat.(1210 345) 635 925 NOVEMBER MAN [CC] (R) Fri. - Sat.(1155 235) 510 750 1030 IF I STAY [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(1140) 410 725 1020 WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL [CC,DV] (PG) Fri. - Sat.(1215 350) 700 950 THE GIVER [CC,DV] (NR) Fri. - Sat.(1130 210) 435 705 930 THE EXPENDABLES 3 [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.405 PM 655 PM LET'S BE COPS [CC,DV] (R) Fri. - Sat.(1205) 430 740 1025 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(1135 205) 440 710 940 HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY [CC,DV] (PG) Fri. - Sat.(1200) 400 655 955 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(1150 355) 645 935 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3D [CC,DV] (PG-13) ★ Fri. - Sat.(1220) 425 715 1005 LUCY [CC,DV] (R) Fri. - Sat.(1220) 425 715 1005 NOVEMBER MAN [CC] (R) Fri. - Sat.(140) 420 720 1000 IF I STAY [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(130) 410 710 945 WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL [CC,DV] (PG) Fri. - Sat.(110) 400 640 920 THE GIVER [CC,DV] (NR) Fri. - Sat.(100 PM) THE EXPENDABLES 3 [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(330 PM) 645 PM 940 PM LET'S BE COPS [CC,DV] (R) Fri. - Sat.(150) 430 730 1005 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(110 PM) 630 PM TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 3D [CC,DV] (PG-13) ★ Fri. - Sat.(340 PM) 910 PM GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.700 PM GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3D [CC,DV] (PG-13) ★ Fri. - Sat.(100 PM 350 PM) 955 PM THE IDENTICAL (PG) Fri. - Sat.(100) 400 700 945 FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY DAME TO KILL FOR [CC,DV] (R) Fri. - Sat.430 PM 1000 PM THE EXPENDABLES 3 [CC,DV] (PG-13) Fri. - Sat.(115 PM) 710 PM LET'S BE COPS [CC,DV] (R) Fri. - Sat.(130) 445 725 955 BOYHOOD (R) Fri. - Sat.(145 PM) 515 PM 900 PM Times For 09/05 - 09/06 © 2014 THUR SEPT 4 - WED SEPT 10 THU HIS GIRL FRIDAY 3:45 CUBAN FURY 7:30 MOONRISE KINGDOM DRAFT DAY BAD WORDS 5:30 5:30 3:45 LOCKE 7:30 ONLY LOVERS THE BIRDCAGE LEFT ALIVE 9:20 9:20 DATE NIGHT SPECIAL: $20 3 MOVIE PUNCH CARDS FOR 2 read us online at eugeneweekly.com EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 21
