Fan Review by Patsy, July 13, 2009

Finally, I am reviewing "Now You Know", an itsy bitsy indie that, while far from a perfect one, is most certainly an endearing, warm and funny comedy/romance. Actually I must be honest, there are quite a lot of flaws, the most obvious technical one being sound problems. Sometimes the music seems too loud and the dialogue too soft. Other times the background noises drive me batty. It makes no difference that I watched the recently added "YouTube" version this morning. It's like they didn't know how to use the boom mics or something. Not that I'm knowledgeable at all in cinematic technology.

The plot, while somewhat simple, even paper thin sometimes, is enjoyable and the characters fun and meaningful to get to know. The films slows down considerably during its "chick flick" scenes (this is one film Mary and I have agreed on almost totally). I actually like Keri during the lesbian bar scenes, and during her scenes with Marty when they talk about anything other than the wedding that was cancelled. When Keri begins to talk and mope about how angry she is at Jeremy and blah blah blah, I seem to cringe and tune it out. I've always been very critical of "chick flicks" and even "chick flick moments" in films, so if I seem callous...I guess I am. Keri is not a "weak" character for the most part, but her rationale for why she called off the wedding just seems petty to me. If a guy sticks around at all, he's a keeper in my book, and as even she will admit, he's a decent guy who doesn't cheat on her, clean out her bank accounts or beat on her. That's an absolute one-in-a-million miracle...and he's good looking!

If this film wasn't at least 75% comedy and 25% romance, it wouldn't have been more than a forgotten chick flick like my "favorite one" Moonlight & Valentino. Luckily, Jeff Anderson, still channeling the spirit of ne'er do well Randall Graves, created a film worthy of being compared to the original "Clerks", just a simple, no-frills comedy set in Jersey. There are a few sight gags, but mainly they are due to the B&E schemes. Most of the comedy is devilishly good dialogue (especially between the 2 lawn buddies), innuendoes, and complete misunderstandings. It just works. To explain further would be to oversimplify, and the one beautiful thing about this one is its simplicity.

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