Kathryn Hahn Stars in Near-Miss ‘Afternoon Delight’

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CHICAGO – Jill Soloway’s Sundance Award-winning “Afternoon Delight” is such a frustrating near-miss. There will be some slight spoilers in this review. Because I can’t figure out how to express my issues with the film without mentioning one major point although it doesn’t spoil the action of the final act, just how Soloway chooses to get there. It’s only one plot point but it’s later in the film than I usually give anything away but it also completely destroys the believability of what came before and so can’t go unmentioned. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The great Kathryn Hahn does the best work of her career as Rachel, a smart, beautiful suburban housewife dealing with the ennui that comes when marriages and motherhood gets a little stale. Hahn, so often a scene-stealing supporting actress in work like “Parks and Recreation” and “Step Brothers,” is fantastic in a leading role. She captures something true about the daily chore of parenthood and marriage in that she’s certainly not miserable in either but looking for a spark, something to jolt her out of her life in ways that her chattering friends and their school-based parental activities can’t do.

Afternoon Delight
Afternoon Delight
Photo credit: Film Arcade

That spark comes in a most unusual form. Rachel’s friend Stephanie (Jessica St. Clair) tells her that the way to get passion back into her marriage bed is to do what she does sometimes with her husband – go to a strip club. The sexiness will follow Rachel and husband Jeff (Josh Radnor of “How I Met Your Mother”) back home and give their sex life new energy. Believe it or not, unlike most of movies in which strip club adventures lead to idiotic decisions like the guys in “The Hangover,” it seems to work. Rachel gets a lap dance from the lovely McKenna (Juno Temple) and goes home with her husband. Problems start when she tries to find McKenna the next day.

Before you know it, Rachel is essentially stalking McKenna, and happens to be with her when she’s kicked out of her apartment. McKenna, who Rachel now knows is a full-blown sex worker and not just a stripper, moves in with her and Jeff, pretending to outsiders to be the new nanny. Is Rachel trying to save McKenna? Does she want to be more like her? How could this possibly end well?

Afternoon Delight
Afternoon Delight
Photo credit: Film Arcade

“Afternoon Delight” sets up some interesting themes about sex, marriage, expression, love, and people with a savior complex and then sabotages them all in the final act. Here’s the spoiler – the action of the final act of “Afternoon Delight” depends entirely on every single major character getting drunk or stoned. It’s lazy writing, which is particularly disappointing given the honesty of what comes before it and the truth of the performances. Can’t we get these characters to revelations without booze or weed? “Afternoon Delight” could have been a smart piece about female sexuality and friendship but why do both have to hinge on alcohol? It doesn’t feel genuine and betrays the characters by rushing the film to an unsatisfying conclusion.

And yet there’s nearly enough to like before it and even in the performances during that final half-hour to recommend. I love everything Hahn does here, going subtle in ways that fans of her over-the-top comedy style may not expect. Temple is good, Radnor isn’t bad, and supporting roles are filled out by some great comediennes like Jane Lynch & Michaela Watkins. The misfire of “Afternoon Delight” is one of writing, almost as if Soloway was afraid to let her characters progress to a truly interesting place and chose liquid writing courage over honesty.

“Afternoon Delight” stars Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch, Jessica St. Clair, and Michaela Watkins. It was written and directed by Jill Soloway. It opens in Chicago on September 6, 2013.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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