Movie:
"A Legacy of Whining"
Director: Ross Munro
Year: 2016
Rating: ---
Running Time: 1 hour, 13 minutes
A pair of old high school friends meets up for the first time in 30 years. Over time, however, their views on life have changed, and as one of them one reminisces on and tries to relive the past, the other tries to make the most of his present by looking for new experiences.
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| Dunc and Mitch meet for the first time in 30 years. |
"A Legacy of Whining" is a micro-budget film written by, directed by, and starring Ross Munro. Munro plays an aspiring actor named Mitch, who is meeting up with an old high school friend named Dunc, played by Robert David Duncan, for the first time in 30 years. Mitch is very nostalgic of the past and wants to spend his time with Dunc reliving their youth while he laments about his upcoming audition. Dunc, on the other hand, has just gotten out of a long-term marriage and is looking to let loose and have new experiences. After just a short time together, we begin to understand why they haven't seen each other in 30 years as they virtually have nothing in common. It really seems that Dunc can't stand Mitch and frequently talks to him like he's a stranger instead of a friend. Over the course of their night together, what was supposed to be an early night in slowly turns into an odd series of events they'll never forget.
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| Mitch's imagination gets the best of him. |
This film is sort of a screwy oddball comedy, and despite the tiny budget and lack of real seasoned actors, it is honestly quite enjoyable! There are a lot of humorous, sometimes uncomfortable exchanges of dialogue that happen between Mitch and Dunc, and early on, we begin to wonder why Dunc even came to see Mitch at all consider he has what appears to be a slight level of disdain for him. Mitch might be stuck in the past, but it's nice he wanted to make his friend's trip a nostalgic one by doing things they did when they were younger, such as throwing eggs at people and going to their old hangout spot, a cafe with "famous cinnamon coffee." Many of the things that happen in "A Legacy of Whining" seem very random, though we're willing to wager that's the point. Waiting to pick Dunc up from the airport, Mitch is propositioned by a hooker on a motorized scooter, sees a panhandler talking on a cell phone about meeting with his broker, and has a conversation with a limousine driver who is picking up the cast of an adult film.
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| Trying something new. |
We're going to be straight with you: we can't honestly say the acting is very good in this film, nor is the camerawork for that matter, and yet there is something about the dialogue and these weird, awkward situations that is bizarrely fun and extremely intriguing. We can't help but laugh at Mitch's anecdote about a confrontation between 'Dusty Hoffman' and 'Sir Larry Olivier' on the set of "Marathon Man." Thinking about it now makes us crack up at the mere mention of it. There is also something to be said about the exploration of these characters, who are both trying to recapture their youth, just in very different ways. Mitch attempts to reenact his rather mundane teenage years and winds up discovering that you can't really go back, because even if
you don't change, the world certainly does. As for Dunc, he wants to make up for what he sees as a squandered life by chasing college aged women in the hopes of a grand sexual encounter that might make him feel alive for once in his seemingly miserable life.
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| ¡Viva la Revolución! |
In the end, even though "A Legacy of Whining" is quite flawed due to its monetary constraints, we had a good time watching it and found it to be mostly enjoyable. You will get a kick out of the random encounters, the great dialogue, the trips these characters attempt to take down memory lane, and what an odd, bizarre night they wind up having. If you're able to look beyond the Hollywood spectrum and allow yourself to find something even more indie than indie, this is a decent choice!
My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ---%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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