Nobody Walks is a film that follows Martine (played by Olivia Thirlby), whom is an aspiring filmmaker from New York. She arrives in Silver Lake, California, because a friend of a friend’s husband named Peter (John Krasinski), a sound designer, has offered to help her with her film on bugs. Martine stays with Peter’s family which includes Julie (Rosemarie DeWitt), her teenage daughter Kolt from a previous relationship, and their son Mason. Dylan McDermott makes a cameo appearance as Kolt’s father. They seem to have a “happy family” vibe when the film starts, but you start to see that shift as Martine and Peter start to spend more time together. Their relationship starts off as strictly professional but quickly turns personal. Julie recognizes Peter’s attraction to Martine and only asks that he doesn’t embarrass her. Through it all Martine seems mostly innocent and genuinely focused on getting her film finished. Peter quickly develops what he seems to feel is a strong connection with Martine and gets angry and feels betrayed when Martine spends a night with Peter’s assistant. Martine exasperatingly admits that all she wanted was to work on her film, and Peter seems crushed by her lack of reciprocated feelings. Peter obviously misread Martine’s intentions but still blames Martine and projects his frustrations. Then on the other hand, you also have Julie having her own sort of dalliances with her narcissistic psychiatric patient.
The film takes a close look at family dynamics and how infidelity can affect everyone. Peter and Julie seem like they have a solid partnership in the beginning of the film, but even though they have a seemingly strong bond, it is quickly forgotten in the heat of the moment. I like how Ry Russo-Young juxtaposed the affair with Peter’s family’s everyday mundane activities during the exact moment he crosses the line. I was holding my breath and waiting for something to happen to stop them. It is easy to see how people can stray on a whim and not even fully realize how devastating their actions can be.
This is the first film I have seen from Russo-Young, and I am sure it won’t be the last. It is a real and honest take on how a family can easily be thrown off kilter from partaking in life’s many temptations. Russo collaborated with Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture and “Girls”), and Dunham brings her knack for showing the gritty and raw details of life and relationships. The film also took home the Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. It is a nice change of pace from the overabundance of sugar coated mainstream films.
This is the first film I have seen from Russo-Young, and I am sure it won’t be the last. It is a real and honest take on how a family can easily be thrown off kilter from partaking in life’s many temptations. Russo collaborated with Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture and “Girls”), and Dunham brings her knack for showing the gritty and raw details of life and relationships. The film also took home the Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. It is a nice change of pace from the overabundance of sugar coated mainstream films.
Nobody Walks is distributed by Magnolia Pictures and available on DVD and Blu-ray. Visit the film's website.