Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

When looking over the hellscape that is mainstream comedy film, it may feel like there is nothing but cheap laughs from cruelty, dick & fart jokes aimed at 12 year olds, and lame sight gags. Where are the clever films with scathing wit, intelligence, and realistic human interaction? Well, in the less-publicized world of indie film, of course. We’ve found one of these hidden gems and, as luck would have it, it’s scheduled for a limited engagement right here in Los Angeles!

12 in a Box was shown earlier this year at the Brittish Film Festival (in LA), where it won the Best UK Film award. My husband and I were fortunate to have been invited to the festival and have a chance to see this smart, funny film. Though we tend to only go to a limited number of movies in the theater, much less ones we’ve already seen, 12 in a Box is on our calendar for a second go-round during its run at the Laemmle early next month.

Farce can go a lot of ways, few which manage to fully capture the art with wit and nuance. Happily for those of us who can’t get enough of classic Brittish farces and great screwball comedies of the 30s, 12 in a Box finds just the right balance between believability and absurdity. And, like the films it celebrates, it lets that balance subtly tilt off kilter as the story builds. There is never a moment when you doubt the characters or the strange situations that ensue. Even near the end of the film, when the comic tension and wits of the characters have reached a fever pitch, the odd developments feel right and somehow natural.
12 in a Box poster - click to view full size

12 in a Box poster - click for full size

The premise of the film is simple, twelve people are invited to a stately mansion for a school reunion dinner and offered 1 million pounds cash each if they stay there, cut off from the outside world, for 96 hours. Of course, in the great tradition of farce, this simple goal becomes increasingly complicated rather quickly. Alliances are forged and broken, relationships tested, and no one is quite what what they seem. What begins as a single unpleasant wrench in the plan, sets off a chain of events that wind up the manic tension toward and ending that will, literally, have you gasping out loud and jumping up from your seat.

Granted, this is not one of those formulaic “with a twist” films. In 12 in a Box, writer/director John McKenzie has crafted an entertaining story, rich with believably quirky characters, witty dialogue, and strange complications which build organically on each other throughout the film. Standouts in the cast are Belle Hithersay as the seemingly sweet and pious Alice and Kenneth Collard as Barry, who will need to skip his own wedding to earn his million pound nest egg, but the entire ensemble truly deserves a lot of credit. It’s obvious a lot of love and care went into creating the story and bringing it to life.

Certainly, there are a lot of comedies vying for your film-going dollar during the summer. Great independent films like 12 in a Box can be harder to find behind the giant hype bubble surrounding much of mainstream Hollywood’s churn ‘em out dreck. But, as in life, seeking out something better is always worth the effort.

Check out 12 in a Box during its week-long engagement (premiers August 7, 2009) at:
Laemmle’s Music Hall 3
9036 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, 90211
310-274-6869

For info and tickets: view Laemmle’s 12 in a Box page

View The official 12 in a Box website