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Gabby (Leah Rudick) and Will (David Bly) are deeply in love - but she's a struggling sculptor and he's a struggling chef in NYC, so both of them have to work to make it, she during the day he in the evening, and they hardly see each other anymore despite living together in a shoebox apartment. Then one day, Gabby meets Oscar (Casey Biggs), a famous architect old enough to be her father and then some, and he's genuinely interested in her work, he enjoys her company, and he invites her to art events all around town for her to make connections - but he's a perfect gentleman so everything's on the level, and it doesn't appear that he's interested in her sexually. Still, he asks her to accompany him on a trip to Brazil to introduce her to some people, and she accepts - much to the dismay of Will, who's pretty much eaten up by unfounded jealousy.

While Gabby's away, the restaurant Will works at goes bancrupt - but on the last day open, Will meets Guylaine (Barbara Weetman), a business developer about twice his age, and he impresses her with his cooking and feels charmed by him as a person - so much so that he lets him persuade her for him to cook dinner for her a few days later. Again she's impressed by his cooking, and agrees to help him open his own restaurant - upon which many more dinners for two follow. When Gabby returns from Brazil, she's not alright with Will cooking for Guylaine all the time, especially since Will is very secretive about it, and she can't be as sure that everything's on the level between the two of them as it is with her and Oscar. This of course strains Will and Gabby's relationship, until ultimately Will has the idea to invite both Guylaine and Oscar over to a dinner for four at their place as a way to not only fix things between him and Gabby but also get to the next level with their respective "sweet parent". The dinner turns out to be only moderately awkward - until Will lets his jealousy get the better of him, and in one sweep he threatens to destroy everything ...

Of course, the premise of this movie is life as a struggling artist in New York City, which is something not all of us might be terribly familiar with, and at least some of the film's story is really very NYC-specific - and yet, the film remains very relatable throughout, as it's basically the tale of the underdog longing for their spot in the sunlight, and a story of ill-placed jealousy, brought to life by a pretty strong cast, while the direction manages to bridge the gap between the specifics of New York art and food life and the universal narrative themes, all of which make this a pretty touching drama - that leaves you wondering if there might be a happy ending until almost the very last frame ...

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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