A Solid Los Angeles Cringe Comedy

When a film’s opening credit sequence includes the phrase “Shot entirely on location in Los Angeles, California,” you know it’s going to have that particular L.A. vibe. It’s certainly true of Situations, the debut directorial feature by Greg Vrotsos (a veteran actor whose credits include many episodes of Orange Is the New Black), which showcases not only the verdant geography of the city’s Silver Lake neighborhood but also the career and relationship issues that make the city such a fertile breeding ground for neurotic, self-absorbed characters.

Nick, the central character played by the director/co-screenwriter, certainly qualifies as one of those. In this film, which received its world premiere at the Oldenburg International Film Festival, the successful photographer is first shown getting together with his ex-girlfriend Jessica (Katie Parker) at a café three months after she initiated their break-up.

The meeting doesn’t go well, since he’s still pissed about the “spreadsheet” she included in a recent email to him, in which she detailed exactly how their assets should be divided. “What are we doing here?” he asks testily. She responds by handing hm a sealed envelope.

When he opens it later alone at home, all he can say is “Wow” over and over. He calls his lawyer, distraught. “My chest hurts,” he moans. “I thing I’m having a thing,” sounding like Woody Allen.

Or maybe the late Henry Jaglom, whose films this one closely resembles. As with the works of that solipsistic filmmaker, plot is not a major element of Situations, the title of which proves accurate. We see Nick as he meets with his agent, works at photo shoots and has a conversation with an old friend whom he happens upon at a park. (The scene is shot entirely from a distance, either an aesthetic choice or possibly to avoid permit issues).

Mostly, the film depicts Nick’s awkward attempts to re-enter the dating scene, especially when he very reluctantly agrees to be set up on a blind date with a woman named Gabrielle. His anxiety leads to two of the film’s best scenes. In the first, he nervously rehearses conversation for the date in front of a bathroom mirror (I mean, who hasn’t?). In the second, he arrives early at the fancy restaurant where they’re meeting, only to be greeted less than warmly by the haughty hostess who doesn’t want to even let him sit at the empty bar because he’s so early for his reservation. When he finally does sit down, the bartender (a very funny, deadpan George Basil) informs him that the drink he’s ordering is “against the law.” The two men verbally square off hilariously, demonstrating the unique art of using politeness as a form of aggression. It’s a sequence that could have come straight out of Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

Bailing on the date before she arrives, Nick bums a light from a woman (Fiona Dourif of The Pitt) smoking outside the restaurant. Although their encounter is initially hostile, they’re next seen in bed together, where they discuss their respective relationship woes and she, what else, plays him her ex-boyfriend’s drunken voicemail messages.

And so it goes, culminating in a scene in which Nick goes to a dinner party hosted by his friend Paul (P.J. Byrne), where he finds out that one of the guests is Gabrielle (Fernanda Andrade), the woman he stood up. What happens next is cringe comedy par excellence, including a little girl finally asking, “Uncle Nicky, are you okay?”

A little of this sort of thing can go a long way, and Situations, which was previously made as a short film, occasionally feels drawn-out in its minutiae. But its well-observed characterizations, and yes, situations, ring amusingly true (at least for a small subset of the population), and Vrotsos displays an admirable willingness to make his character seem like a jerk. Even when you don’t like him, you can certainly relate to him.