Somebody’s Darling Review: Love on Campus Ain’t Always Grand
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Paul Galvan, Jessa Settle, Fred Parker Jr
Directed by Sharad Kant Patel
Director Sharad Kant Patel’s slow-moving thriller, Somebody’s Darling is like a blind date gone awry – you get all hyped up for the possibility of meeting that special someone, only to have them ramble on incessantly about a distant relative over the course of 3 hours…mind-numbing to say the least.
Set back in the yesteryear of 2006 (seems so long ago), the place is Williamsburg University, and the society level here ranges from “high” to “ivory-tower.” We follow a sorority gal named Sarah (Settle) as she and her bffs head on over to a douche-tastic fraternity party, only thing is these guys actually seem…oh, what’s the word I’m looking for – oh yeah: REFINED! Not before the expensive booze starts to spill does Sarah meet up with Christian (Galvan), the smooth-talking frat-president who tries every trick in the book to woo the lovely lady, and after an initial rejection, she caves and the two go on a date. All seems like things are looking up and up when BOOM – Sarah simply kills the connection and breaks communication – hey, she’s apparently got her reasoning, and the only problem with this is that Christian doesn’t take said rejection very well. He begins a rather accelerated downfall socially, blowing off his bros and his school work, amid other obligations that might smear his reputation as a frat-boy president.
Backed up by the “support” of his collegiate-kinship, he starts to regain some of his confidence, however the methods used to do so aren’t exactly the most altruistic. It’s clear to the eye that the two lead characters here are a mix of oil and water at its basest level, and the emotions displayed are somewhat reflective of a dysfunctional relationship, if you will. There’s a lot of push-and-pull between the two, and the damage that can be done to the male psyche when faced with rejection is under the magnifying glass. The notion is to focus upon the two-person contention, but the overwhelmingly sluggish dialogue and lack of true instances are what hold this production back from really hitting it out of the park. I’ll give all credit where it’s due to Patel, with this being his first feature film, for it is very well constructed, but with a few more cringe-worthy moments, this Darling could have been the belle of the ball, for sure.
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Film
Summary
With as many good intentions as this movie may have promised, it’s just like someone “leaving their wallet at home” when the bill shows up for a very large dinner.
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