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A Slice of Life
by Francine Brokaw
Sing Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
This comedy will have you chuckling from start to finish. It’s about a group of men who sang a capella together in college. Now, fifteen years later, they are reuniting at the request of one of their friends who wants them to sing at his wedding. It’s been fifteen years and the guys have changed. Some are married, divorced, parents, worried about receding hairlines, apprehensive about having children, and generally just trying to get on with their lives the best they can.
When they get together at a home in the Hamptons to “rehearse” for a few days before the big event, they strengthen the bond they shared in college. With wives, girlfriends, a baby, a nanny, and whatever baggage they all bring, this is a reunion that will have audiences laughing. It’s an updated version of The Big Chill for this generation. However the added element of the songs brings a fresh dimension to the movie. Granted, the actors don’t actually sing all the songs. But they sure look like they do. And they sound great.
It’s a confusing thing to grow up – for all of us. And these guys are all facing the fact that they are closing in on the big 40. (As if 40 was a life changing age.) One guy has even made a calendar to show them exactly where they are in their lives. Based on his premise that they will live to about 80, he figures they are in the summertime of their lives - the end of June to be exact. He even figures out what hour and minute! Talk about paranoid. And this is the guy who measures his hairline to see how much it is receding!
So, now you have this group of guys. Add a couple wives, a girlfriend, a nanny and a baby to the mix and there’s even more comedy. One wife is completely anal. Another is lusting after one of her husband’s friends, another really wants to persuade her husband to have a baby, and the nanny is trying to figure out what these people are really all about.
The group is a strange mix of people, but when the guys get together and sing, they have a beautiful harmony that can’t be matched. The ensemble of actors creates a fabulous onscreen group that is fun to watch. Molly Shannon, Mark Feuerstein, David Harbour, Elizabeth Reaser, David Alan Basche, Rosemarie Dewitt, Reg Rogers, Alexander Chaplin, Liz Stauber, Samrat Chakrabarti, Chris Bowers and Camilla Thorsson are a delightful cast and do a first rate job.
© 2007 Francine Brokaw
Photos © Strand Releasing. All Rights Reserved.
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