Harmony and Me

(USA, 2009, 75 mins, digital video)

Wisconsin Premiere

editor: Frank Ross
sound Designer: Chris Keyland
executive producer: Anish Savjani, Stuart Bohart
producer: Kristen Tucker
cast: Justin Rice, Kevin Corrigan, Pat Healy, Kristen Tucker, Allison Latta, Alex Karpovsky, Margie Beegle

“If I were to pick one indie film of the past year that I would jump at the chance to see over and over again, it would be Harmony and Me, a film in which every single scene manages to work, while being woven into an intricate medley of idiosyncratic humor. And I say this as someone who generally shuns comedies for the simple reason that most of them aren’t very funny.” — UW–Madison film professor JJ Murphy, jjmurphyfilm.com.

Harmony (Justin Rice, Mutual Appreciation, WFF06) is moping around after being dumped by his pretty girlfriend Jessica. While she’s had time to think about moving on to the next relationship, Harmony is awash with the bittersweet sardonic melancholy that seems a genetic trait of young Austin, Texas men. To deal with his heartbreak he tries sympathy from his family (no dice), piano lessons (more promising), and hanging out with his oddball friends (hilarious). Justin Rice owns the screen, creating a likable and disheveled hero who wears Jessica’s picture around his neck in a large silver locket.

“Low-budget comedies are often satisfied with basking in their limited resources, ripping off their influences and chucking forth the odd off-colour gag; but Harmony and Me is a far more distinctive and intelligent affair, which distinguishes itself by its fine comic timing and its agile deployment of language. A tiny-budget, less people-pleasing version of those love-the-loser comedies crafted around comics of the moment Seth Rogen, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd, this film is bold enough not to flinch from the ugliness of emotional turmoil; humane enough to forgive it; and ballsy enough to laugh right in its face.” — Hannah McGill, Edinburgh Film Festival.

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