Your Sister's Sister

Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister has the feel of a three-character play that was expanded (barely) into a film script. Mark Duplass plays Jack, who embarrasses himself at a one-year anniversary gathering in remembrance of his late brother—a situation that leads his friend Iris (Emily Blunt) to offer up her father's rustic hideaway for Jack to work through his unresolved grief. But Jack discovers that the place is already occupied by Iris's older sister, Hannah (Rosemarie Dewitt). After getting soused, the pair go to bed together, despite the fact that she's a lesbian who has just split from her longtime girlfriend. Predictably, Iris shows up the next morning, and the narrative becomes a drawn-out comedy of errors, with Jack desperately trying to keep his one-night stand a secret from Iris. When Jack finally accepts the fact that he's in love with the girl who's been his buddy for so long, it comes as no surprise, and a revelation about Hannah's motivation for having sex with Jack feels more like a writer's contrivance than a credible twist. Along the way there are pauses for lovely outdoors shots, sisterly reminiscences, and comic bits, such as an argument about mashed potatoes in which a dollop of butter enrages vegan Hannah. Some of the dialogue—partially improvised—is amusing, but much of it has a fairly perfunctory ring, like a run-of-the-mill Hollywood rom-com, minus the glamour. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (the first with writer-director Lynn Shelton and costar Mark Duplass; the second with Shelton, gaffer Jeremy Mackie, cinematographer Benjamin Kasulke, composer Vinny Smith, and production designer John Lavin), and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an uneven film.] (F. Swietek)