FILM
Splitsville ★½
(MA) 105 minutes
Many romantic comedies have an alarming side, as in the 1938 classic Bringing Up Baby, in which Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn get to know each other better while running around in pursuit of a dangerous escaped leopard. Still, as far as I recall, nobody actually gets mauled to death. If they had, it’s possible the film wouldn’t be so fondly remembered.
That thought came to mind while watching Michael Angelo Covino’s Splitsville, where the intended comic set pieces tend to be more baffling than amusing – starting with the literal car crash in the opening scene, killing off a woman we haven’t previously met.
Newly married couple Carey (co-writer Kyle Marvin) and Ashley (Adria Arjona) aren’t directly involved, but it’s possible the crash wouldn’t have happened if not for Carey’s erratic driving, in turn the result of Ashley having her hand down his pants.
Adria Arjona and Kyle Marvin play a couple whose relationship takes a turn for the worse.Credit: AP
Still, within another five minutes, the whole thing is in the rearview mirror and never referred to again, having served its plot purpose of prompting Ashley to take stock of her life and ask for a divorce.
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You could say the shadow of death looms over the film all the same, but it really doesn’t. On the other hand, there are recurrent bouts of slapstick violence, including an extended mano-a-mano brawl between Carey and Paul, the other male protagonist, played by Covino.
In this case, the damage is mainly to property, with the mayhem staged in wide shot as they lurch from one room to another of an expensively furnished beach house (Covino is careful about framing, which gives the film a patina of sophistication akin to the characters’ civilised veneer).
The motive for the conflict is sexual jealousy. In theory, Paul is in an open relationship with Julie (Dakota Johnson, by far the film’s most recognisable star).