I am going to share with you a hypothetical scenario. As I do, imagine yourself in this scenario. You can choose to be any one of the characters involved in the scenario, but I challenge you not to feel the raw emotion of the moment…
Andrew is suffering from the loss of his mother, who recently died of cancer. At Andrew’s request, his girlfriend Hannah, his two best friends Dave and Owen, and their two girlfriends Emily and Zoe, all meet up at a rented house in the rural desert to support Andrew in his time of grief. What they all find out is that Andrew, as a way to cope with the pain and sadness of his loss, would like to sleep with all three women, Hannah, Emily and Zoe, simultaneously, in an effort to help him heal, emotionally, by submerging himself in overwhelming love.
Now, in whose shoes are you standing? How do you feel? Awkward. Embarrassed. Angry. Betrayed. These are all emotions explored in THE BIG ASK. Right in the beginning, it takes no time at all for Andrew to pop the question to his friends, honestly and straight forward, but humbly, he makes his case. Initially, they all think he’s joking, except Hannah, before they realize he’s serious, perhaps even a little crazy. This is why the film succeeds. It immediately gets the baggage out of the way so that the exploration of the characters’ relationships can begin.
Written by Thomas Beatty and co-directed by Beatty and Rebecca Fishman, THE BIG ASK is a fresh comedy that is slightly skewed towards being a romantic comedy in a very unconventional way. However, just beneath the surface of the humor, there are some powerful dramatic themes. Consider the crossing INDECENT PROPOSAL (1993) with BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969) and you have a beginning framework for what’s about to take place, thematically. This is a very well-written film, with a strong moral inquiry, but is approached with an appropriately ambiguous attitude. We would like to think the answer to Andrew’s question would be simple, immediate. In real life, there is no black and white. Whether we expect it or not, there is always a gray area, and that is precisely where this film dwells.
Andrew, played by David Krumholtz, is certainly not the textbook example of the average woman’s dream guy, but he has a certain charm about him that allows us to somehow, somewhat play along with his outlandish request. Audiences may best remember Krumholtz as Barry Schweiber from the TV series Freak & Geeks. For some, this may paint a very vivid picture. Dave, played by Zachary Knighton, and Owen, played by Jason Ritter, are Andrew’s childhood friends. Despite their clear reluctance to Andrew’s proposition, its apparent that their love and concern for their friend overrides and jealously or macho defiance that would be considered commonplace. Dave seems to have the most level head about the ordeal while occasionally having to keep Owen in check, whose emotions and self-control prove to be less mature than Dave’s.
When Andrew is around his male friends, having guy time, he seems to find his inner child and loosens his grip a bit on this far-fetched dream of having an orgy with the three women. However, when Andrew is alone with one of the women — rarely is he alone with them all at once — we get to see a more pathetic, manipulative side of Andrew. His false confidence comes out, disguised in a charming sweetness that borders between nerdy cuteness and uncomfortably forward. Hannah, played by Melanie Lynskey, is quiet and unassuming. As much as can be expected, she is surprisingly patient and understanding with Andrew. Most women would have left, protested or even caused bodily harm to their boyfriend, had he just openly and directly propositioned two other women right in front her.
Hannah may not be a supermodel, but she has a simple, natural beauty that softly radiated whenever she’s on film. It takes some time before she finds the strength to speak up and tell Andrew how she really feels. In stark contrast to Hannah is Emily. Played by Gillian Jacobs, best known for her role as Britta Perry on the TV series Community, Emily is an outgoing, new age hippie kinda girl with a free spirit and boundless energy. Her playful, loving nature shows when she is the first one to admit being open, albeit reluctant, to Andrew’s proposition as she feels obligated to help Andrew, even if she has no physical attraction or desire for a sexual encounter. Zoe, played by Ahna O’Reilly, is new to the group and something of a wild card. She maintains an impartial bias to Andrew’s proposition, fueled somewhat by disbelief. Zoe also maintains a bit more distance from the rest of the group as she contemplates another proposition from Dave. Of the entire cast, Zoe is not only the least engaging of characters, she is also the least significant to the story. Honestly, by simply being there, Zoe ups the ante from being a mere a menage-a-trios to something a bit more risque and taboo. With that said, Hannah and Zoe truly carry a great deal of the on screen chemistry in the film, dramatically and comically.-
Another subtle element to the film’s success is the use of visual storytelling. Little things that make a subconscious impact, such as confining the characters within a relatively small space, juxtaposed against such a vast, seemingly endless landscape like the rural desert. A large nearby rocky outcropping occasionally serves as another setting where the characters take to hiking. From the top serves as a vantage point, a way of looking down at them selves and out over the vastness of everything, themselves being minute in comparison. Even the framing choices in the film are often highly suggestive or contemplative in subtle ways. Where the characters are physically to each other, how they’re positioned or what they’re doing. This all plays into the overall visual storytelling. Adding to the success of the film are the notable supporting cast appearances from Ned Beatty as Old Man Carl and French Stewart as Rich, owner of the house the couples have rented.
THE BIG ASK proposes a simple question in less simple terms. This isn’t just a stranger asking another stranger to have sex. This is one man asking an unbelievably difficult favor of his friends, testing the strength and intimacy of their relationship. There is more at stake that petty high school things like desire and attraction. Andrew’s state of mind and emotional well-being is a very real and legitimate concern for his friends, who also struggle with whether they can help or if his condition goes deeper and requires more professional help. Krumholtz is enigmatic in his role. We’re never sure if this is all a hormone-driven con or deeply seeded cry out for help. Andrew seems so calm about the whole ordeal, albeit unnervingly so, until the final act when tragedy takes his recently befriended local mutt away and Andrew finally shows some sense of normal human pain and emotion.
The film is set almost entirely within or around the grounds of the rented house. This helps by creating a tangible enclosure of intimacy. There are no fences or barbed wire, but the film still feels as though the characters are bound within an emotional octagon tasked with slugging out this moral dilemma until a victor is born. This match is rigged and Andrew is meant to be the victor, but how that looks in the end will be determined by the players within the ring. The result is a film that feels very real. Despite the initial shock, THE BIG ASK feels like something that could actually happen. This is raw emotion without the melodrama. This is you, me, and the average Joe played out on screen.
THE BIG ASK is available through Video On Demand and opens in select theaters on Friday, May 30th, 2014.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
