The One I Love

Do you ever question who in the world it is you're spending your life with? The stranger sleeping next to you in bed? At times she is the most charming, funny and sexy person you know, and at other times she's a huge pain in the ass. What if you could just bifurcate her down the middle and run away with only good parts of her personality?

Before this scenario becomes too "Stepford Wives," let's make it fair. She can run away with only the good parts of you - leaving the real you in the dust.

Mark Duplass executive produces and stars in "The One I Love" as Ethan, a man who struggles inside and out of therapy to repair and bring life back into his failing marriage with Sophie (Elizabeth Moss). Their marriage counselor (Ted Danson), after offering a bunch of ineffective advice, suggests that the couple spend some time at an idyllic and private retreat. All alone in a gorgeous vacation house in the country they will have no distractions and can concentrate on each other - which they do to an extent that becomes surreal.

Duplass and his brother Jay (who also executive produces) have been active in the independent film scene for years, writing, directing and producing movies with name actors like "Jeff, Who Lives at Home," "Baghead" and "Cyrus," along with films of a more quirky and experimental style with non-celebrities like "The Puffy Chair" and "The Do-Deca-Pentathlon." He has also acted in Sundance award winners such as "Safety Not Guaranteed."

The movies Duplass and his brother make are all part of a movement dubbed "Mumblecore," and they feature talky (mostly naturalistic) stories about relationships made on a small, independent budget.

Elisabeth Moss, who's Peggy Olson assuredly fought to give a female voice to the male dominated offices of AMC's "Mad Men," has less of an intriguing character than she did on TV, but is just as confident and charming.

If you're a hard core sci-fi fan or purist when it comes to facts and details in your romantic comedies, then you may be disappointed in "The One I Love." This isn't the kind of story where you can ponder the science involved. Instead you should look at this movie as magic realism. Just as in "The Purple Rose of Cairo," a fantastical event happens and it isn't really important how, but the implications might offer insight into our own relationships.

"The One I Love
Blu-ray / DVD
Rated R / 91 min.
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