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XX/XY (2003)
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Synopsis: XX/XY is a unique coming of age story about friends on the threshold of adulthood and how they breech that uneasy time, still struggling to maintain their true sense of being. Mark Ruffalo, Kathleen Robertson and Maya Stange star in this gritty and sophisticated exploration into the... XX/XY is a unique coming of age story about friends on the threshold of adulthood and how they breech that uneasy time, still struggling to maintain their true sense of being. Mark Ruffalo, Kathleen Robertson and Maya Stange star in this gritty and sophisticated exploration into the revolving lives of three college students who first meet at Sarah Lawrence College in the early 90's. When Sam (Maya Stange) and Thea (Kathleen Robertson) meet the irreverent young artist Coles (Mark Ruffalo) at a college party,their mutual attraction is immediate, leading to a passionate, if not awkward, night together and the onset of an intensely charged bond. Yet as they continue to push the sexual boundaries of their friendship, they are challenged by Sam and Coles' peculiar romance and Thea's increasing recklessness until the relationship dissolves amid a shroud of lust, resentment and mistrust. Flash-forward 10 years and the former friends are a lifetime removed from their wild college days. A failed filmmaker resigned to work as an animator for a high-profile ad agency, Coles now lives with his girlfriend of five years, Claire (Petra Wright). Sam has just returned to Manhattan after working in London where she recently broke off her engagement. While Thea is happily married to Miles (David Thornton), with whom she owns a flourishing restaurant. As Coles and Sam are thrust back into each other's lives after a random encounter, Coles finds himself struggling to distinguish between his newly realized love for Sam and his current relationship with Claire. During a weekend trip to the Hampton's, old feelings and hard choices come to the surface as Coles is forced to confront himself for the first time in his life -- a confrontation that either will give him closure on unresolved issues or shatter the life he has managed to built for himself. Recently nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, XX/XY delves into the maturation process young adults undergo when they take that next step in life after college and begin to craft the true course their lives will take. -- © IFC Films [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Kathleen Robertson, Maya Stange, Petra Wright, David Thornton
Screenwriter: Austin Chick
Producer: Mitchell B. Robbins, Isen Robbins, Aimee Schoof
Reviews
Succeeds as an amusing critique rather than an empty-headed endorsement of its protagonists' behaviour.
Basically it's just a chick flick about people obsessing constantly over sex and relationships! But the performances make it watchable.
With its talky and theatricalized depiction of cruelties mutually inflicted by financially comfortable good-looking young white people on each other, XX/XY at times recalls a slightly more full-blooded Neil LaBute movie.
XX/XY is a lovely film and very smart, and it's for grownups. That's a rare pleasure.
Ruffalo continues to be one of the most intriguing actors of his generation.
There's probably a movie in XX/XY, but director Austin Chick doesn't seem to have found it.
There really is no moral to XX/XY except perhaps "beware of love"
XX/XY expresses and explores this universal yearning without becoming stuck in it. In this and many other respects, few movies are so mature and satisfying.


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