THE NEW TWENTY
Directed by Chris Mason Johnson
Produced by Aina Abiodun & Johnson
Written by Johnson & Ishmael Chawla
Released by Wolfe Video
USA. 92 min. Not Rated
With Thomas Sadoski, Nicole Bilderback, Ryan Locke, Colin Fickes, Andrew Wei Lin, Bill Sage & Terry Serpico 
 

Although it takes the form of a much quieter ensemble drama, The New Twenty is in many ways a millennial answer to the slacker comedies of the early nineties. Over 10 years ago, films like Clerks, Singles, subUrbia, and of course, Slacker, characterized a generation of disgruntled twentysomethings too smart and too jaded to be anything more than underachievers.

The characters in writer/director Chris Mason Johnson’s debut film, five friends on the cusp of turning 30, come of age in the present day. Though not much else has changed—they’re all too smart and cosmopolitan for their own good, leading lives of quiet desperation—the main difference is that most of them are willing to play by the rules. Tony (Andrew Wei Lin), a successful advertising executive, refers to himself as a “total sellout,” and his sister Julie (Nicole Bilderback), an investment banker, says she would like to quit, “but they keep promoting me.” Julie’s fiancé Andrew (Ryan Locke) is in the same profession and equally unhappy; he jumps at the chance to strike up a new business opportunity with an alpha-male he meets on the squash court. Only two appear to be Gen X holdovers: Felix (Thomas Sadowski), a heroin addict, and Ben (Colin Fickes)—slovenly and perpetually unemployed. He bucks the stereotype, however, in that he’s one of two who happen to be gay.

There’s not much of a formal plot here, but most of the action revolves around the role reversals and shifting loyalties that stem from Andrew’s new venture. All five, meanwhile, navigate their way through precarious relationships that fall somewhere between “fuck buddy” and “soul mate.” Recreational drugs are used liberally throughout, which feels tired, but Johnson’s insistence on cramming the film with many other topical subjects—AIDS, Internet hookups, gay/straight bromances—works well in this context. The direction and performances are both wonderfully unobtrusive, and the dialogue is clever and quippy but believable. Once it might have been argued that people who use phrases like “existential malaise” in casual conversation only existed in movies. Now they probably exist among urban hipsters who have watched too many movies.

The New Twenty obviously doesn’t break any new ground or even make much of a lasting impression after the credits have rolled. But while it’s playing, it proves to be an effective and realistic take on one of life’s most pivotal stages. Sometimes that’s enough. Brian Theobald
July 24, 2009