The story of “People Places Things” goes like so: Will Henry, a graphic novelist and professor of the subject catches his longtime partner Charlie cheating on him, on his twin daughters’ birthday no less. As he tries to move on with his life and she does so as well, they both find themselves trying and failing to strike a balance between parenting and dating new people, as well as letting go of each other.
Will and Charlie clearly lack the maturity to be good parents or even get along with each other despite being together for a long time. But I liked that such behaviour isn’t glorified and both of them are portrayed as extremely flawed parents who exhaust themselves, exhaust their kids, are borderline negligent, and only realize all this when, hippity hoppity, lo and behold, Diane the single mom of one of Will’s students enters their lives and becomes the responsible voice of reason in this charming, witty indie rom com. She points out the toxic environment created by both the parents and comes out as honestly the only mature adult in this tale.
I like the use of visual clues (as I’m going to call them) peppered into this movie that clue you in on how Will is gonna end up sorting his messed up life and try to begin again—if he can. These especially help in the non-clichéd rom com ending, wherein you know just who he’s gonna end up with, without it being forced down your throat or even shown onscreen. The panels of his graphic novel that he’s working on also act as windows into his emotional state. I like how there are close ups on parts of the graphic novel so we know what’s going on in his mind without him using heavy dialogue to convey it to the viewer.
Stephanie Allynne and Jermaine Clement in “People Places Things” (Beachside Films, 2015).
Something else that works in this “People Places Things’” favour is the chemistry shared by Will and Diane, which is lovely and charming to see. One scene that had me chuckling and on the edge of my seat was the heated dinner debate scene between Will and Diane over whether graphic novels should be viewed as ‘actual literary works.’ Will’s relationship with Charlie in contrast is kind of passive-aggressive in nature. And despite their flaws, you do want both the parents to grow up for the sake of their kids or at least to make space for the new people in their respective lives. The comedy is mostly built around the awkwardness and cluelessness of first-time single dad Will, and there are a lot of chuckle-worthy moments.
As Will Henry, Jermaine Clement gets the most witty one-liners and speaks volumes with just his expressions and body language. At times, his nuanced performance reminds me of his writing partner Taika Waititi’s performance as a single dad in the underrated “Boy.” Also, god bless the Kiwi accent, it is just music to my ears! The child actors playing the twins are fun to watch and their interaction with their onscreen dad is just adorable. But the one who stands out is Regina Hall as Diane, and I wish we could pepper her into everything nowadays. Her role is much smaller than I wanted, but she leaves her mark whenever she’s onscreen. Jessica Williams and the rest of the cast also turn in good supporting performances.
