New Low (2010)

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely Fantastic

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

If your'e in the mood for an original indie romcom that's funny, I highly recommend New Low. Written and directed by Adam Bowers, who also stars as a lovelorn slacker, this no-budget, off-beat love story made official selection at Sundance. It was shot on location in Gainesville, a college town in northern Florida. It co-stars "youtube celebrity" Tobias and the ever lovely Jayme Ratzer. She's hot (holla!).It's a string of one-liners woven around a plot. The plot is pretty creative. An underachiever has to choose between two women. One is a do-gooder who represents his potential to be a better person. The other one is a dumpster diver who represents who he thinks he really is. He has to decide who to be with and he has low self esteem. New Low is romantic comedy for people who don't usually like romantic comedies, in other words, guys. Adam Bowers is distinguishing himself as a kind of WASPy Jerry Seinfeld. Tobuscus plays his wacky best friend. Every romantic comedy has to have one. The writing is fresh and the jokes fly fast, a la 30 Rock. People don't say hilarious things so frequently in real life and not stop to laugh at them, but it's a movie, go with it. As Seinfeldian as this picture is, another reference comes to mind. I got shades of Kevin Smith. It's ironic, it's sweet, and most of all, it's funny. I look forward to catching Paperback, Bowers' latest. It was paid for at least in part with a Kickstarter campaign. The industry should be investing in Adam Bowers. Why they're not is still a mystery to me. So, if you happen to be in charge of development at a major studio, please check this guy out. Disclaimer: These views are of mine alone and I have no connection to the picture.

I caught this on some strange new channel called Snagfilms on my Sanyo Smart television. I wasn't expecting much, but at 1 AM, I was expecting to watch 10 minutes and go to bed. Instead the picture dragged me in and I watched the whole thing. Adam Bowers puts together a whole series of cute and delightful scenes on a less than shoestring budget. He does something that many 100 million dollar movies, don't. He makes me care about the characters involved. He also makes them both very believable and very funny. It is sad that Hollywood hasn't discovered Bowers and given him millions to follow up this film. I will be looking for his next film called "Paperback" Jayme Ratzer and Valerie Jones are bothexcellent as Bower's rival girlfriends.

Though a low-budget movie about an oddball romantic relationship is hardly original, this one has very funny deadpan acting and dialogue, and the characters, while outlandish, come across as more authentic than merely "quirky" as we've come to expect. Adam Bowers is like a talkative Tramp, though maybe that is going too far, and he has strong support from Turner and Ratzer who play his buddy and love interest with great comic timing and humanity. Of course the plot isn't meant to go anywhere, and doesn't really, at least not anywhere that I can decipher. I suspect the project completion was rushed or incompletely conceived, which is to be expected. And while the production is competent there are some flaws that remind you how many beers this thing cost to make. But on the whole a quite entertaining display of talent.