Juliet, Naked

Following in her late father’s footsteps, Annie (Rose Byrne) manages a municipal history museum in the British seaside town of Sandcliff while struggling to maintain her long-term relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd), who is totally obsessed with ‘90s alternative-pop rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke), who has now vanished into obscurity. When an unreleased Crowe demo, Juliet, Naked, arrives in the mail, Duncan is ecstatic. Sensible Annie is far more critical of the motley selection of outtakes, expressing her distaste in an acerbic comment on Duncan’s website. To her surprise, Annie receives a personal reply from reclusive musician Crowe himself, thanking her for disliking the bootleg CD as much as he does. After a transatlantic e-mail flirtation, Crowe suddenly appears in Annie’s life, toting his adorable young son Jackson (Azhy Robertson). The timing coincides with Duncan’s blossoming affair with a colleague named Gina (Denise Gough). Based on Nick Hornby’s 2009 novel, this film is predictably directed by Jesse Peretz, founding bass player with the 1980s American indie band Lemonheads, who went on to helm TV’s Nurse Jackie, among other series. Hawke says, “For an actor, I’m not a bad singer.” But he’s not very good either. And while Byrne’s ditsy comic timing is delicious, this is ultimately a superficially satiric romantic comedy in which no one is naked and Juliet is nonexistent. Optional. (S. Granger)