Porch Stories
Where: Parkside Hotel
When: Tonight, 7:15
Rating: 2.5/3 stars
Decisions, decisions. It’s a universal dilemma, and one that propels the narrative of Canadian documentary writer-director Sarah Goodman’s modest, uneven but generally involving feature debut that centres on Emma (Laura Barrett), a 30-something Toronto woman who begins to question the wisdom of her impending marriage to her workaholic fiancé Stefan (Alex Tindal) when Gabriel (Jose Miguel Contreras), a musician from her past, shows up on her front porch. While you don’t expect Torn Between Two Lovers to begin playing on the soundtrack — the film instead benefits from a mesmerizing, guitar-dominated Canadian indie soundtrack featuring Toronto musicians Barrett and Contreras — Emma’s soul-searching becomes the foundation for a tapestry of mini-dramas. These contrived little neighbourhood subplots involve an elderly Portugese couple addressing issues of their own, and a musical brother and sister duo.
Goodman’s premise of the neighbourhood as a societal microcosm is sound, if a bit overt at times, and she has a good ear for dialogue you might expect from its young protagonists.
Maya Bankovic’s glorious black-and-white cinematography and Kailee Clayton’s evocative production design add a timeless quality to this modest snapshot, which occasionally recalls the milieu of Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz and the naturalism of John Cassavetes, with a nod to Robert Altman’s trademark use of overheard dialogue to enhance a film’s realism.
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