There is actually more than one girl in this group of apparent strangers who walk into 10 different Bars over the course of one night in Los Angeles. In each bar there is a different story that sometimes has a tenuous link to the others in this engaging and somewhat fascinating movie. The pace starts off very fast with a rapid firing conversation in the first bar between girl number 1 and a man. Turns out that he is a nervous dentist who’s contracting her, an overly confident ex police detective turned paid killer, to ‘take out’ his cheating wife. The scene reels you mainly thanks to the two mesmerizing performances from Carla Guino and Zachary Quinto, and the momentum is kept up when Quinto’s character leaves, and the Detective/Killer allows herself to be distracted by cute looking Hustler (Kevin Zegers) who pickpockets her purse.
There is a connecting thread throughout all the separate scenes which reveal more about this three characters and other people who seem to inhabit Bars that they are linked too in a rather uneven plot that drags a little too often. The upside is the acting which is never less than excellent due to the fact that its from a whole string wonderful talent in cameo roles such as Rosario Dawson, Danny Devito, Josh Harnett, Amber Valletta etc.
What’s equally intriguing is the whole back story to this whole movie which was made on a microscopic budget and released on Youtube the same day it was premiered at SXSW Film Festival. This is not the first time that Argentinean writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez has made an impressive ensemble comedy for peanuts, and his ‘Women In Trouble’ in 2009 also starred Carlo Guino, who also happens to be Mrs Guteirrez. Despite its lack of funds, this is hardly a hand-held camera mumblecore art film, but a remarkable movie with impressive production values.
If you don’t want to watch it on Youtube, then you can find it on Netflix Streaming or Amazon VOD.
★★★★★★★
