SXSW Film Review: Sorry, Thanks

For sanity’s sake, many of us try to maintain distinct boundaries in our lives. Overlaps between work, friends and family are awkward and inevitable, but unless we’ve been up to no good, these separate-sphere collisions are pretty much harmless.

Max has been up to no good. The fact that he has a girlfriend (Ia Hernandez) doesn’t stop our young protagonist (Wiley Wiggins) from sustaining a flirtation with Kira (Kenya Miles), who is newly single and a little freaked out. Random encounters seem to encourage their relationship, but questions of truth and fairness nag at Max’s conscience. So does his best friend Mason (Andrew Bujalski), who has no trouble pointing out that Max may in fact be a not-very-nice person.

Kira is not blameless, either. Something about Max appeals to her, and life’s recent bummers seem to have affected her decision-making skills. A seven-year relationship has fizzled out, she has found herself vying for a job she’s overqualified for, and she seems only to be dating because she doesn’t want to be alone. Kira knows it’s wrong to spend time with Max, but oddly, curiously, she does it anyway.

The characters in Sorry, Thanks push the limits of respectable behavior and they seem content to let the universe sort everything out for them. As they blithely stride towards possible destruction, however, they somehow remain quite likable. Wiggins stumbles and bumbles with adorable, kid-like charm, and Miles conveys love’s aftermath with painful precision. These characters are certainly flawed, but beneath their bad decisions lay good intentions that can’t go unnoticed.

The steep hills and foggy mornings of San Francisco’s Mission District provide an apt background for this meandering film, and Dia Sokol’s cast of non-professional actors imbues her debut effort with interesting faces and an honest presence. Billed as an “unromantic comedy,” Sorry, Thanks is a contemplative and heartfelt detour from standard romcom fare, a skillfully made ensemble piece that makes no excuses for screw-ups, but tells you it’s okay to love them anyway.

You have one more chance to see Sorry, Thanks during its SXSW run, so catch it now or take your chances in waiting to see where it eventually resurfaces. It’s easy to be cynical, but we’re hoping this likable little film finds a wider audience in the near future. We’ll let you know how it all turns out.

Sorry, Thanks will be shown on Thursday, March 19 at 9 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. For more information about other films, check out the 2009 SXSW Film Festival schedule.