Nick Davis' 1999

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Only characters in movies have names like "Rufus Wild," and only in the movies do inarticulate bozo guys dump their hot, intelligent, sensitive girlfriends, spend the entire flick justifying their decisions, then potentially hooking up with their better half all over again by the end of the picture or, alternately, finding an even more bodacious belle to shag. Insert some pop culture references, some upbeat tunes, some deadpan jokes, and some carefree drug use and the movie practically writes itself. There's an unwritten law that only Whit Stillman (and maybe Noah Baumbach sometimes) should be allowed to pen any scripts that bear a passing resemblance to the "Woody Allen for twentysomething" subgenre.

Much of the story takes place within the confines of a Manhattan apartment during the last day of 1999, surprisingly blasé about Y2K bugs and end-of-the-world dread. It also fails on a visual level to separate itself from other run-of-the-mill dialogue driven indies (i.e., white walls, static shots of banal dialogue), where attractive Gen-X kids eat potato chips and talk about the State of the World. At least in Jeff Winner's You Are Here*, you got the impression that this was a life having been lived. Writer-director Nick Davis sticks to a series of calculated contrivances akin to the Shakespearean comedy, only without the Bard's timing and wit. I wish I hadn't even made the comparison -- that bit will show up in some flattering soundbite.

The cast is appealing. Futterman brings a winsome grin and laconic charm to the central character, while Buck Henry does some amusing hems and haws as a beleaguered dad. Steven Wright pops in as the wise bum, doing his patented Steven Wright line readings. Amanda Peet fans (ha, ha -- all two of you that loved Whipped) will be pleased to see that, yes, there's actually a fine actress living within that Hollywood hype machine being groomed as the future of romantic comedies. Perhaps someday she'll get back to her roots -- bona fide character roles.

1999 is best viewed when leaning on the fast-forward button, another movie that lends credence to Ken Russell's immortal quote that all movies are improved when seen this way. Nick Davis confirms that in some cases, Ken was right.

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