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THE WEST WITTERING AFFAIR
Directed by David Scheinmann
Produced by Ben Timlett
Story by Scheinmann & Sarah Sutcliffe
Director of Photography, David Scheinmann
Edited by Karoline Moser
Music by Mark Tschanz
Released by LifeSize Entertainment
UK. 92 min. Not Rated
With David Annen, Rebecca Cardinale, Danny Scheinmann & Sarah Sutcliffe
DVD features: Men’s therapy group. Director’s interview. Dr. Andrew Holland’s sex clinic infomercial. Music from the film. Trailer.

Contrary to popular opinion, romantic comedy is not dead and buried. Just when everyone thought it was done for, and Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant started raising their glasses in victory, a swarm of honest and refreshing filmmakers have fed the weakened genre new life. Not only has the indie scene stepped up for those of us who can handle only so many stale boy-meets-girl-loses-girl-wins-girl-back-again flicks, but foreign aid is coming to our rescue as well. In one naked man tied to a table with carrots, greens, flowers, and one tomato covering his unmentionables, there is hope. And one very upset naked man.

Jamie (wonderfully played by Danny Scheinmann) finds himself in this predicament after spending a weekend in the country with Kath (Sarah Sutcliffe), a woman desperately in need of a shag, and Kath's friend Natasha (Rebecca Cardinale). After she has made her horny intentions quite clear to the video camera in her bedroom (à la sex, lies, and videotape), Kath does indeed snag Jamie – five minutes after he and Natasha have done the dirty deed. His failure to reveal this bit of information to the women results in him being tied nude to the table – an upsetting experience for anyone, albeit very entertaining for an audience.

Afterwards, Jamie seeks the comforting ear of Greg the therapist (David Annen). Barefoot, and with a therapy room illuminated by blue light, Greg has his own sexual problems. After all, what kind of twisted therapist pretends to have an affair in order to see what his girlfriend's reaction will be? When he hears of his girlfriend (the one and only) Natasha's weekend fling through the clueless and self-indulgent Jamie, the lies and love triangles take off.

Admittedly (yes, I admit it), the plot has been done before, and many times over, and the film’s a tad too long. But what makes it work so fantastically well here is how honest and raw it is. Shot in 10 days over the course of three years, the entire film's dialogue is improvised – an experiment that Stanislavski and the Actors Studio would be proud of. Modern comedy, in general, has desperately needed a refreshing jolt of life. The West Wittering Affair is it.

The DVD extras include Dr. Andrew's bizarre sex clinic infomercial, along with repeated footage of the documentary-style men's therapy group, and a couple of deleted scenes. Music from the film, a trailer, and a wonderful audio interview with director David Scheinmann will have you, after hearing of the film's background and origins, curious to see it again. B. Bastron
December 11, 2007