Review of Alex of Venice

Chris Messina's directorial debut is an insightful look at thirty somethings at the level of of crisis Checkhov penned in his final play, THE CHERRY ORCHARD. The tight ensemble cast is led by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Don Johnson, Katie Nera and Skylar Gartner, Messina giving himself principal cast status without much on screen time. Winstead plays a thirty something environmental lawyer prosecuting a lawsuit which many viewers of the film get the impression has nowhere to go. Her dysfunctional family includes a father losing it trying to get a part in a production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD, a ditzy sister who tries to help but makes things worse, an unhappy husband who leaves without explanation or or warning and a ten year old son who at first feels crushed but eventually figures out all of us go through crises in our lives and the stronger we are to surmount them the better our lives will become. Odd philosophical truth to assign a ten year old character but always fascinating even the eighty or so minutes between opening and final credits and the often single camera editing working well.