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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Lynn Shelton’s Effortless Brilliance

posted by on October 8 at 13:06 PM

If you haven’t seen Stranger Genius Award-winner Lynn Shelton’s film My Effortless Brilliance, and you want to, which you should, and you have fancy cable, which I leave entirely up to you, it’s available on Video On Demand for four more sweet, funny, effortlessly awkward days.

Michael Atkinson’s review:

Mumblecore cries out in the wilderness in this personality-rich, bare-bones ultra-indie, which follows a flabby, narcissistic middle-tier young novelist (ex-Stranger scribe Sean Nelson) as he haplessly seeks to reconnect with a wary and embittered college friend (Basil Harris) in and around a cabin in the forests of Eastern Washington. Any pro-am awkwardness is wittily absorbed by the scenario, but while the performances are all savvy and convincing, Shelton (who splits screenplay credit with her improvving cast) steers entirely clear of drama. Think of it as Old Joy without the seasoning.

Free viewing on your effortless cable TV ends October 11.

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