Cool Apocalypse

Just when you thought the whole twentysomething “mumblecore” fad had faded, writer-director Michael Glover Smith serves up this pointless, rambling relationship film. It's a by now too-familiar scenario in which privileged post-college younger adults try to relate to one another despite having nothing interesting to say. While the essence of mumblecore may be its authenticity, not every semi-articulate obsessive conversation about food or clothes is cinema-worthy—often, it's just glorified home-movie noodling. Here you have the familiar cliché of an aspiring experimental writer named Paul (Kevin Wehby) who works in a bookshop and casually hits it off with Julie (Nina Ganet), a feminist blogger. Paul brings Julie to a dinner hosted by his best friend Claudio (Adam Overberg), a depressed video editor who has just been jilted by his smart-alecky video “journalist” girlfriend Tess (Chelsea David). While the dialogue is awkward and stilted throughout, the thin-skinned sensitivity of these characters is extraordinary (enhanced by lame acoustic singer-songwriter soundtrack music). As an extremely “talky” movie, Cool Apocalypse is in some ways akin to a Woody Allen or Whit Stillman film—minus the attendant cleverness and ear for dialogue. In the end, we don't much care what happens to these characters. Not a necessary purchase. (M. Sandlin)