One of the most buzzed-about films at Sundance this year was Mark Pellington‘s I Melt With You. That buzz was mostly on the negative side, but we were one of the few that got something out of his drug-fueled look at life. Starring Rob Lowe, Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Christian McKay and Sasha Grey, we called it “daring, bravura filmmaking,” but “a flawed work of art.” We also sat down with Pellington, who opened up about the negative critical response to the film. The red band trailer hints at the insanity that seems to be layered across every scene. Check it out below.
Synopsis:
Richard (Thomas Jane), Ron (Jeremy Piven), Jonathan (Rob Lowe) and Tim (Christian McKay) are old college friends that gather annually for a week in Big Sur to celebrate their friendship and catch-up on each other’s lives. They seem like typical men in their forties – all with careers, families, and enormous responsibilities – but like most people there is a lot more beneath the surface.
As the week progresses, they go down the rabbit hole of excess as mountains of drugs are consumed to a blaring rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack. Parties with much younger women spin out of control. Exhausted and run ragged, they bare their souls to one another revealing the disillusionment with their lives. As the truth emerges, the reunion takes a much darker turn when a promise from their past is brought to light. From director Mark Pellington, I MELT WITH YOU is a visually dazzling, wild and wooly trip deep into the male psyche, driven by four amazingly committed and profound performances.
I Melt With You hits VOD on November 4th before a theatrical release on December 9th.