EASIER WITH PRACTICE

Oh dear.  What to say about Easier With Practice?  It's a quiet, harmless little movie with plenty of interesting and/or likable bits, but as a whole it's just kind of...slow.  If you're in the mood for a slice of life that feels like it moves at the speed of life, you won't be disappointed.  If you'd prefer to feel as though something is actually happening, you may very well find Easier With Practice to be an exercise in tedium.

 

Davy Mitchell (Brian Geraghty) is a romantic young writer who sets out on self-promoting book tour of sorts.  The only glitch is that his book hasn't actually been published, but he's still able to draw an audience to whom he can say, "You can buy a copy of the book from my brother after the reading."  Needless to say, there's no glamour involved in this little endeavor, and for the most part, the trip consists of driving and hanging around hotels with his brother.  The one flicker of excitement comes when Davy's brother is out buying cigarettes and the motel phone rings.  On the other end of the line is Nicole, who just wants to talk...about what Davy's wearing.

 

Bewildered, Davy explains that she must have the wrong number, and anyway, he's not really into this sort of thing, whatever this sort of thing is.  But Nicole insists that she wants to talk to him, and somehow Davy feels compelled to engage her.  In fact, he continues to engage her throughout his trip, and in the midst of this lonely journey filled with random encounters, Nicole becomes a bright spot.  Not only does he look forward to her calls, he decides that they should meet, an ill fated idea on par with Dorothy revealing The Man Behind The Curtain.

 

The surprise ending is intriguing and says far more about the human condition than we anticipate.  However, the journey will not appeal to everyone, and somehow the story seems badly matched to the medium.  I can imagine enjoying Davy's experience far more if it had taken place in a book that I could read in bed or on the bus, at about the same pace he lived it.