Easy Listening (2002)
If "Laugh In" were a drama, it would
be "Easy Listening." That's sort of a joke but sort
of true as well, because there is really no easy way
to describe "Easy Listening." Well, it is easily the
most breezy, most super film you will see this year.
It is easily the coolest film since "CQ."
If "CQ"
was a love letter to 60's films, than "Easy Listening"
is a love song to 60's music.
Dig this, cat: The film is about
two musicians in an easy listening orchestra circa
1967 who fall in love. But it's even better than that.
Burt is a balding, pot-bellied wannabee jazz trumpet
player who has nothing much to live for except supporting
his ex-wife with alimony. Linda, meanwhile, is a young
and fresh-faced seeming Pollyanna with a much deeper
soul than we would ever imagine upon first meeting
her. When Linda and Burt hook up, sparks fly, waves
crest, and the world suddenly looks as fresh and lively
as, well, as a song covered by the 101 Strings.
There's just so much to like in
Pamela Corkey's inspired look at 60's white soul.
First and foremost is the amazing music provided mainly
by the 101 Strings. Corkey has a real love for this
music and it propels the film from the very first
scene. Thanks to this film, we hear this music in
an entirely new and fresh way. If you don't want to
run out to your local used record store and pick up
every 101 String platter you can find in the bargain
pile after seeing this film, something is wrong with
your ears and your heart!
And the period detail. Wow. This
film is cool and kitschy and vibrant and fun. The
buildings look so cool. The cars are awesome. The
locales, the sets, the props and the costumes are
all spot on target. This film proves that you don't
need a huge budget to do a period piece, just a desire
and an attention to detail. It's a pure delight just
to look at this film. Put the score over the visuals
and you've got real cine-magic going on here.
The two leads in the piece are wonderful
as well. Sure, David Ian plays a complete nebbish
but his arc is wonderful and Ian handles it with ease.
He grows on you. And just like the visuals coupled
with the sounds here, juxtapose Ian against his female
lead Traci Crouch and you've got a duo that is impossible
to dislike. Crouch is a real find! She's awesome as
Linda. This role could have been goofy and uninspired
lampoon in the hands of some actresses but Crouch's
heart and white soul really shines through on the
film. This is a career-making performance!
The story is romantic and just a
pure treat. And Corkey, who also scripts here, never
ever falls into the expected plot traps that we assume
will make her film turn to drivel. Every time you
get an expectation of what might happen, Corkey surprises
you with a character trait in Linda that will blow
your mind. And the dialogue is simply wonderful. The
phone conversation between Linda and Burt about "black
soul" and "white soul" is possibly the most romantic,
the most sweet- natured, the most hopeful and the
most inspiring dialogue I've heard in ages. And the
final climax of the film, when our duo argue and then
magically reach a resolution; what Corkey does - Wow,
wow, wow! It is simply, quite possibly, the most beautiful
and wondrous climax to a romantic comedy I've ever
seen.
Do you get the idea that I liked
this film? I freaking loved this film. It's sweet
and fresh and haunting. As sweet and fresh and haunting
as a song by the 101 Strings, if you can imagine such
a thing. But, of course, you probably can't. That's
why you need to see "Easy Listening."
Note:
Also with Tim Crowe and Mary Frank
Medera.
Medera, who uses mainly her voice
in the film (we never really see her face) sounds
almost exactly like Audrey (and/or Jayne) Meadows.
Corkey wrote the "Love Theme" for
the film. She was once a music student but turned
to film in college.
Filmed in Boston and other East
coast locales.
