Last night , after miraculously crossing the Wilshire & Westwood intersection at rush hour without being run over – no small feat, even when the WALK sign is on – I watched Sarah Kelly’s The Lather Effect at the Los Angeles Film Festival. The theater was packed – considering the amount of whistles, squeals, and shouts (it was the "world premiere"), I assume many were friends of the director/producers/actors involved in the film. Unfortunately, the air conditioning at the Mann Festival wasn’t working as well as it should have, at least in the gallery, which made for an uncomfortable viewing experience.
Kelly’s comedy-drama, I’m sorry to report, didn’t help matters any. This 21st-century The Big Chill – and The Lather Effect is tantamount to a low-budget remake of the 1983 Lawrence Kasdan hit – meanders aimlessly for an hour and a half, as the unappealing characters, most of them in their 30s and 40s but with the mindset of adolescents, drink, smoke pot, talk about sex and the difficulties of adult life, and reveal deep dark secrets from the distant past. Those who got something positive from The Big Chill - I sure didn’t – may enjoy The Lather Effect. Just remember that this is 2006, which means that The Lather Effect soundtrack is filled with greatest hits from the ’80s, not the ’60s or ’70s.
i like the big chill.