Now available on physical media from Anchor Bay Entertainment
Two broke friends in their 30s have to come with money to buy a gift for a baby shower later in the same day.
Written by Amanda Drexton, Michael A. Drexton, and Samantha Westervelt, and directed by Amanda Drexton and Michael A. Drexton, this comedy is one that may leave many apprehensive from its trailer to its PR (which touted a female-led film yet named only men in the same sentence), the feeling going in was rather iffy. Then the film got going and a brisk pace with some witty writing helped reel this viewer in. The story here is a bit hectic, a bit nuts, and somewhat relatable at times. Of course, being from a different generation does create some disconnect with these type of films as they work best when one is aligned just right with the characters. For those who will connect with it, it will be love at first watch. For those who won’t connect with it, the film will be forgotten within an hour of turning it off. For those somewhat in the middle, some elements will annoy them to no end while they try to enjoy the rest of the film. The writing and story here are kind of niche, would have been considered hipster 10 years ago, and they are decently interesting still.
The film’s cast here is mainly composed of two of its writers, Amanda Drexton as James and Samantha Westervelt as Gwen. These two carry the film and if you like them, you love them here and well, for those who don’t, their performances here won’t change their minds. The feel for the film very much comes from the two of them, giving performances that are a bit manic, a lot hectic, and mostly interesting. Their build characters with not much arc but they make them work. Of course, they each have redeeming moments, and they make the most of those. In smaller roles, the supporting cast comes in and adds a bit of spice to the proceedings. In the role of a sort of cult leader/MLM leader is Corey Feldman in his best performance in years (yes, I know), giving a performance that shows that he’s seemingly having fun going a bit insane and a bit nuts. Joining the cast as Gwen’s very pregnant sister Augustine is Augie Duke who has the bewildered/caring thing down. There is something here and spending more time with Augustine could have been fun. Other cameos show up here and there, not all of them feeling like they are needed as the don’t always advance the story, but they don’t hurt it either, so it’s easy to just ignore them in the long run.
The film’s cinematography is by Steven Moreno, and it looks good. There is energy and dynamic in the images, showing the story and the leads while adding something that brings the viewer in. Adding to the dynamic of the film is the editing which brings the images together and adds that extra oomph the film needs. These works put together greatly assist the story and the film overall.
Sour Party is a welcomed surprise of a film that had marketing and PR a bit all over the place thus not making something that this viewer would gravitate toward naturally, but getting it randomly and putting it on just to see was a good idea here. The film is decently entertaining and it’s fun, so it’s not a bad way to spend 84 minutes.
This physical media release by Anchor Bay Entertainment looks and sounds good on Blu-ray and the extras, while not numerous are more than decent. The Video Yearbook is fun and the commentary with all three writers and the cinematographer has a few too many folks on it but they make it work decently well.