Easier with Practice

Easier with Practice made a splash at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards where it won the Someone to Watch award and was nominated for Best First Feature. It’s a film about a writer trying to live out a fantasy and overcoming his shyness. If the first half of the film can keep you interested enough to carry on, I think you will be rewarded.

Writer Davy Mitchell (Brian Geraghty) is out on the road promoting his book with his brother. One night back at the motel room Davy is alone and gets a random phone call from a mysterious woman named Nicole. They have a long intimate conversation that is just what the lonely writer need. This fantasy of a girlfriend continues as they begin to talk over the phone on a daily basis.

About half way into the film Davy admits that he hasn’t been in too many relationships before to Nicole. He also confesses that the relationships that he has been in do not last because he never lives up to what they expect him to be. Although we can tell that his character is shy in the beginning, he acknowledges it by saying that he would like to be with other girls but never does anything about it.

It is clear that Davy want this relationship to be more than just phone sex. She refuses to give out her number and demands that she just calls him. That is something he tries to change a few times but she doesn’t budge. I believe that this is the closest thing he has had to a real relationship in a long time.

As with real relationships conflicts and hardships arise and do so here as well. Davy runs into a old girlfriend that he was once into at a party and he forced to make a decision on which relationship to pursue. Not wanting to hide anything, he tells Nicole about the situation.

The first half of Easier with Practice starts off relatively slow and I feel it only gets better the more into the film you get. Mostly due to the character development we get to see from Davy. In the beginning, we really don’t get a true sense of who he is and it isn’t until much later you find out at what extent his loneliness really is.

There are several long scenes of Davy talking into the phone which is quite hard to do. Not only is he having a somewhat awkward relationship and conversation on the phone, but often does it while masturbating. Brian Geraghty does an amazing job with this character making him feel believable.

Easier with Practice is an independent film whose dialog at times is awkward but very real and honest, it is shot very well and the acting is good. The story is on the verge of being too simple but considering it was Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s first film it is impressive. The ending may not be as rewarding as you would hope, but you must appreciate it for what it is. I wouldn’t recommend this film to everyone but there are more than just a few that I think could enjoy it.