Locating Silver Lake
- Director: Eric Bilitch
- Writer: Eric Bilitch
- Producer: Deborah Del Prete; Daryn Simons
CGiii Comment
It ends many miles away from where it starts!
This prima facie [heartbroken] rom-com soon shifts gear into something quite different. It ought not to have...although the idea behind it is stoic and sturdy: An almost angelic [straight] young man ready to absorb all that life throws at him crosses paths with a rather demonic and libidinous [bisexual] club kid...water and oil...repel or attract?
Both actors do their roles proud. Josh Peck is cheek-tweakingly adorable replete with those baby blues. Finn Wintrock knocks it out of the park, he is deliciously vile and sweet and vile... Of course, these two would never - not in a month of Sundays - ever get on...but writer/director - Eric Bilitch - adopts a nifty little mechaism to keep the credibility afloat...he's a writer-in-the-making with absolutely no life experience...and, has a desert-hike thirst to lap up every interesting character he meets.
This is where the film works best...when he meets different people with their small [and large] surprises that make every life interesting.The warmth that is duly generated - especially with his landlord - is both cosy, touching and charming.
Then...it all goes dark. Unnecessarily so. This 'dark' storyline could have been a film on its own, it would have reaped the benefits with and from more clarity. But, hey...that's just an opinion!
Locating Silver Lake is a lovely film...without that dark-side! With it...well, let's just say, it didn't need it.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
After his girlfriend dumps him at graduation, lovelorn Daniel (Josh Peck) packs up and moves to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. Already challenged by many encounters in his newly adopted neighborhood of Silver Lake, Daniel’s world thoroughly changes the moment he meets the mysterious Seth, played with maniacal charisma by Finn Wittrock of American Horror Story. Struggling with life’s big questions like only a recent college graduate can, Daniel soon finds the love he’s been looking for in one of Finn’s friends, Talya (Aubrey Peeples of TV’s Nashville), but it doesn’t take long for him to learn a hard lesson: if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. The film features a cast of unique characters that only Los Angeles can muster, including stunning performances from Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) as the local landlord with a heart of gold and Valerie Cruz (The Following) as the tough but tender mom next door. Locating Silver Lake is a fantastical and masterful look at navigating both expected and totally unexpected post-college pitfalls.
Cast & Characters
Finn Wittrock as Seth;
Josh Peck as Daniel;
Aubrey Peeples as Talya;
Robbie Kay as Mack;
Valerie Cruz as Luisa;
Amaury Nolasco as Jose;
Robert Rusler as Mr. Jonathan;
Zelda Williams as Ella;
Dan Lauria as Speaker;
Taylor Tunes as Hot Girl;
Julian Works as Lil' K;
Gilland Jones as Samantha;
Dion Mucciacito as Ricky;
Grant Harling as Tyler;
Kimberly Stanphill as Mother