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The Love Guide2011 | 76 min | Not rated | 1.85:1
It’s been a struggle during my filmgoing experience to fully embrace the idiosyncrasies of Parker Posey. She’s shined in a handful of pictures, but, more often than not, she plays the same role, always the semi-sarcastic acid queen on the prowl for the perfect sardonic barb. “The Love Guide” (previously known as “Sunny Side Up,” which is a better title) actually benefits from Posey’s spazzy energy, unleashing the former it girl of indie cinema in the role of a daffy spiritual guru, giving her plenty of room to improvise and wind herself around the frame. It’s not an especially good performance, but “The Love Guide” isn’t an especially good movie. Still, her fireworks display adds some needed life to an otherwise insignificant feature, bringing some mild fun to material that doesn’t deserve her. 
Struggling to make ends meet while raising free range chickens in Maine, Millie (Christy Scott Cashman, who also scripts and produces) is faced with a crushing corporate farm reality, encouraged by her husband Al (Jay Harrington), who’s an unemployed lobsterman. When a chance encounter with personal growth guru Angelica Lovecraft (Parker Posey) results in an invitation to be on her reality program “Cut the Crap,” Millie accepts the financial opportunity, hoping to share her way of life with television audiences. While Al objects to such a sleazy promotional opportunity, Millie prepares her family for the cameras. Arriving at the farm, Angelica is overwhelmed by the serenity of the land, leading to a considerable lack of conflict. Urged by producer Ira (Michael Panes, in a winning supporting turn) to beef up the “drama,” Angelica begins to guide Millie through a radical change of lifestyle, forcing the chicken farmer to reconsider her life and the current state of her marriage. Running only a paltry 73 minutes, there’s not much too “The Love Guide” besides a basic arc of enlightenment, which director Derek Estlin Purvis flavors with heaping spoonfuls of vanilla. It’s not a challenging offering of film direction, basically pushing what passes for a story along without much of a visual presence, while generally shying away from a pointed attack on the reality television genre, which walks away from the picture with a mere slap on the wrist. Cashman’s screenplay isn’t laced with venom, preferring to use the exploitation device as a means of emotional confrontation, forcing Millie and Al to communicate with each other for the first time in a long time, while Angelica pushes her agenda on the dangers of carbs and hoarding, slowly coming around to a stagnant lifestyle the longer she remains on the farm. 
Outside of a ridiculous subplot spotlighting Millie’s suspicion of Al, who’s been filmed around town in the company of a gorgeous blonde (Andria Blackman), there’s little plot to embrace here, leaving the entertainment value of “The Love Guide” to minor moments, the best occurring during Millie’s tour of the farm and her home, pointing out decorative minutiae to Ira and his bored cameramen. The rest of the feature belongs to Posey and her customary weirdness, which finds a home with Angelica, who’s supposed to be a spiritual being of questionable focus, fueled by vegetables and colonics, building a movement with her clutter-free message of independence. Frolicking around with frizzy hair and a hummingbird-like attention span, Posey is amusing. She’s not quite unpredictable, but feisty enough to make a mark, making her co-stars look hypnotized by comparison. 
Strolling to a formulaic ending, “The Love Guide” skips a few steps on its way to a satisfying climax, possibly the victim of a severe editorial session that reduced the feature to the bare minimum. Perhaps there’s no reason to mind a mediocre movie that wants to end as quickly as possible, yet there’s an effort to build some form of emotional (and spiritual) connection between the characters and it doesn’t gel as intended. It seems “The Love Guide” is reserved for only the most ardent of Posey fans, because without her spunk, I’m certain the film would immediately fall asleep. Starring: Christy Scott Cashman, Parker Posey, Kathryn Erbe Director: Derek Estlin Purvis » See full cast & crew |
 
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