On_Line

A smart, melancholy subculture slice-of-life with an unromantic roundelay between half a dozen denizens of the Internet underground, this stylish low-budget indie has serious video sleeper-hit potential. Taking place mostly over the Web (through webcams, QuickTime windows, and creative split-screen effects), the interwoven stories revolve around a one-on-one cybersex website that has become the primary source of human interaction for most of the film's damaged and cautious characters--including a brokenhearted cynic (Josh Hamilton), a charismatic downtown lothario (Harold Perrineau), a sultry young model (Vanessa Ferlito), a suicidal gay teen (Eric Millegan), and an even more unstable waitress (Isabel Gillies) who befriends the kid online and sleeps with Perrineau in person. Character- and dialogue-driven in a way that's reminiscent of a less high-minded Whit Stillman film (Metropolitan, Barcelona), writer-director Jed Weintrob's On_Line is a savvy, shrewd commentary on the listless self-absorption of modern computer cocooners. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one “artistic” by director Jed Weintrob, co-writer Andrew Osborne, producer Tanya Selvaratnam, and costars Josh Hamilton, Eric Millegan, and John Fleck; the other “technical” by Weintrob, supervising sound editor Coll Anderson, cinematographer Toshiaki Ozawa, and visual effects supervisor Christian D. Bruun), the 13-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “Sex, Tech and Videoscreens,” the three-minute Tom Dorcy interview “History of the Webcam,” a two-minute “making of” music montage, eight deleted scenes (including an alternate ending), a poster slideshow, and trailers. Bottom line: an excellent extras package for a solid indie sleeper.] (R. Blackwelder)