Mike: Uh oh, someone’s riding the menstrual motorcycle.

I was really skeptical with “Baystate Blues” because often times when directors harp on small town woes and conundrums we can be left with a strong sense monotony and tedium because frankly, it’s all been done before and it’s tough to do it with a sense of originality or innovation. Need I mention the awful “Margot at the Wedding”? Director Mark Lewis‘s dramedy about three sisters and a blue collar put upon husband is instead an actually intriguing and unique existentialist dramedy that includes some rather good performances by the entire cast. More based around relationships, “Baystate Blues” sets down on a small family who are still coping with the accident sister Devon experienced years before. She’s a self-pitying, narcissistic victim who will ultimately self-destruct on the road she’s headed. Scott Lewis steals the show as Mike, a hardworking clown who sticks by Devon in spite of her relapses and retreat into seclusion in the midst of her recovery and he gives quite possibly the best performance of the film.

A night of partying and recollections of old times manage to inspire an already looming powder keg that inspires our thirty something miscreants to somehow gain an unusual perspective on their lives and realize that they’re not as happy as they could be. This is where our cast truly shines as Lewis is just a bonafide scene stealer as a man anxious to stick by his wife, but is faced with the truth that he may not really like what she’s become. Just the same, Steffi Kramer is adorable as the ditzy artistic sister Alex who is much more of a bystander in the middle of the hoopla and gains a self-realization when all hell breaks loose. Allyson Sereboff is delectably obnoxious as the self-loathing Devon who wants sympathy regardless of her actions however mean or cruel they may be and yet manages to draw some sense of pity when her accident brings her to a point where she realizes home isn’t home anymore. “Baystate Blues” definitely knows what it wants to be and it creates a very intriguing and engrossing drama with brutal chemistry and a slew of exceptional performances, in spite of the occasional kinks here and there.

I was not entirely in love with Lewis’s direction as he too frequently engaged in close-ups in the first half intending to focus on the more emotions behind our characters lives but instead provided a rather uncomfortable series of extreme close-ups that did nothing but provide some awkward sequences. By the second half some of the monologues have erratic skips during takes that make the film seem like a skipping record adding to the awkward moments poorly. The little tricks with the editing and sound never helped “Baystate Blues” to be a better movie and all attempts at style and innovation were ultimately flat.

In spite of the occasionally shaky direction, "Baystate Blues" is a great relationship drama with a clever script, and all around great performances. It's not too often relationship dramas can be so involving, but director Lewis rises to the challenge and proves me wrong when it comes to the creative potential of this sub-genre.

• For more information on "Baystate Blues," visit the official website.

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