Molly's Theory of Relativity

Writer-director Jeff Lipsky's extremely small-scaled domestic comedy-drama stars Sophia Takal as Molly, a jobless young astrophysicist living in a small New York apartment with her husband, Zak (Takal's real-life husband, Lawrence Michael Levine), who is working two low-paying jobs in order to support them. On Halloween night, the couple are visited by a slew of guests—Zak's father (from whom Zak is estranged over money), a precocious neighbor girl dressed as Albert Einstein (along with her mute grandfather, who is introduced as Boris Pasternak), the ghosts of Molly's mother and grandmother, and a little boy who may or may not be imaginary. The visitors all share secrets, memories, fears, and life lessons, which are apparently designed to emphasize the importance of family. While there are a few penetrating observations in this film that features graphic nudity and sex, almost all of the dialogue sounds as though it were coming out of Lipsky's word processor rather than from the mouths of real human beings, so the characters never seem to be more than puppet mouthpieces. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)