Pretty Problems

Cat (JJ Nolan) loves shopping. She likes to go out and splash out, pick up something new and exciting. She’s impulsive. She likes clothes, food, wine. Sometimes she goes out and acquires a new person.

Lindsay (Britt Rentschler) and Jack (Michael Tennant) have been struggling with numerous small problems which have gradually got them down and put pressure on their marriage. She’s frustrated in her jon at a clothing store but feels trapped there because he’s unemployed. He’s on probation after a petty offence, required to submit to regular check-ups and blood tests. Though not threatening to her, he has anger issues, and she worries about people setting him off. With all this going on, sex between them isn’t really working anymore. They love each other but it’s hard to claw one’s way out of that kind of mess.

It’s the sadness which excites Cat. Perhaps it represents a challenge. Lindsay – of ‘Linz’, as she renames her with casual disregard for her preference – could be her new project. Then again, cautions Jack, her desire to whisk them both away for a weekend of fun at one of her spacious properties in Sonoma might turn out to be about something else: they could find themselves involved in an orgy or turned loose in the grounds and hunted. In reality, the danger is much subtler, and is delivered with the best of intentions, so that despite themselves they barely see it coming.

There’s a lot of culture clash comedy here but the film doesn’t hinge on it. More important is the way that Lindsay and Jack find themselves culturally overwhelmed, gradually yielding to a world in which everything is out of joint, beginning to believe that it represents reality. Cat genuinely seems to adore them and her friends are all pleasant enough. It’s her birthday and she just wants to have a good time. These people drink almost continually, Jack observes at one point. Lindsay makes excuses for them. She’s trapped in a middle class habit of trying to save face. Cat is trapped by her ability to have whatever she wants when what she needs more than anything is the secure structure offered by limits.

Most viewers will be familiar with Cat’s world predominantly through reality televisions. Its inhabitants here as not as monstrous as their counterparts there, but with her outsize personality and her outsize wallet, Cat careers through the world breaking things and barely noticing, and nothing really helps her. There are deep societal problems here, even if, from the comfort of a Sonoma mansion, they look prettier. Gift bags and murder mystery parties, candy pink stilettos and laden wine cellars, self-help gurus and lots and lots of drugs help with that, like the magic of the silver screen.

Kestrin Pantera’s film plays with familiar tropes but still has something to say. Rentschler, who co-wrote, delivers the depth which the story needs to stay grounded when its characters don’t. It’s a sweet, bubbly tale with a dry finish.