My Effortless Brilliance

Effortless? Brilliant? Not so much.

Best we can tell, the title of this lackluster meditation on male friendships is supposed to be some tongue-in-cheek nod to Dave Eggers' "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius." Director Lynn Shelton wishes.

The film's three main characters suffer an awkward friendship triangle that is painful to witness. There's an intimacy between the guys—two are ex-best friends while two are exploring a burgeoning relationship—that make viewers squirm. That's probably a testament to the actors' skills and their abilities to improvise tense (if not hostile) situations.

But effortless and brilliant? Only if by brilliant you mean a movie that offers almost no action, little dialog and no final catharsis. The long pauses and stammering speech could be seen as an exercise in authenticity. If so, maybe we're just not evolved enough to appreciate it.

Skip it: When your main character is a self-involved "asshole," you're gambling with the audience's patience. Some viewers can look past a character flaw to see the bigger picture. We just couldn't wait for the guy to get off screen.

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