Movie Review - Blue Jay

Blue Jay (2016)

Starring Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson

Directed by Alex Lehmann

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

In Blue Jay, former high school sweethearts Jim and Amanda (Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson) meet for the first time in over a decade in a grocery store when Jim returns home to California to clean out the house of his recently deceased mother.  The two decide to go to a local diner to reminisce where there's an immediate reconnection for Jim despite the fact that Amanda tells him that he's married and now the stepmother to two grown children.  Although initially hesitant, something clicks for Amanda as well and the two return to Jim's mother's home where they reminisce about their high school days, what became of them since they broke up, and what could've been had they remained together.

For the film's first half, the connection between Duplass and Paulson is engaging and palpable and I found myself enjoying this obviously low-budget film.  The black-and-white cinematography makes the viewer focus on the story...which works for the first half.  However, the flick begins to drag and the improvisational dialog aspect of the film begins to rear its ugly head.  The short 80-minute runtime starts to feel much longer than it should.  Fortunately, Paulson and Duplass continue to create a believable relationship and their characters' chemistry carries the film even through its roughest times.  Blue Jay showed much promise at the outset, but in the end, it's a bit too short on plot to really make an impact.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+