Themes: Love Triangles, Sexual Awakening, Single Life
Main Cast: Kathleen Robertson, Johnathon Schaech, Matt Keeslar, Kelly MacDonald, Eric Mabius
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A struggling actress forges an unusual family unit with two separate boyfriends in this romantic comedy from indie auteur Gregg Araki. Veronica (Kathleen Robertson) hasn't had a decent date for a year, but one Halloween she meets not one but two perfect guys: Zed (Matt Keeslar), a rock drummer who does her on the floor of a club bathroom after his show, and Abel (Johnathon Schaech), an affable rock critic and would-be novelist, who seems more interested in connecting with her soul than her private parts. Unable to lie to either guy about her attraction to both of them, Veronica soon convinces them to share her. Eventually, the unemployed Zed and the underemployed Abel even move in with her, resulting in kinky sex and domestic bliss. Trouble comes calling, however, in the form of an unplanned pregnancy -- and in the person of Ernest (Eric Mabius), an aptly named TV director, who gives Veronica her big break and the chance to play house and raise her child in a monied, more normal environment. Its soundtrack filled with the director's trademarked mixture of shoegazer drone and electronic bliss, Splendor premiered at Sundance in 1999. Araki's first outing after the completion of his "Teen Apocalypse Trilogy," the film reunited him with two actors who had appeared in that series: Schaech (The Doom Generation) and Robertson (Nowhere). Both of those earlier characters participated in unorthodox romantic tableaux similar to the one documented in Splendor. Robertson, in fact, would return to the world of the ménage à trois with 2002's XX/XY. Offscreen, the actress raised eyebrows after beginning a romance with her openly gay director. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
Although by no means a perfect resurrection of writer/director Gregg Araki's beloved vintage screwball, Splendor is nonetheless an engagingly giddy picture. True, the tone is uneven and the plot haphazard even by less-than-realistic standards. And, yes, co-leading men Johnathon Schaech and Matt Keeslar are, respectively, blander and more boneheaded than one might expect from their resumés. But all of these faults can be forgiven for one simple reason -- and her name is Kathleen Robertson. The camera loves this former Aaron Spelling starlet, but her enormously personable lead performance is more than the sum of her admittedly attractive cheekbones and figure. Even when Araki saddles her with long stretches of monologue in which she must stare into the camera and narrate her own story, Robertson has a disarming charm and an ability to breathe life into even the most implausible line. And despite the shortcomings of her co-stars, she has real chemistry with both, as well as Eric Mabius, who is delightfully banal as a plastically attractive stand-in suitor. Kelly MacDonald has fun with her supporting turn as a snotty, sapphic construction worker, but besides an unbilled bit part for Mink Stole, the cameos this time out are far less copious. One-time jack-of-all-trades Araki does, however, employ a talented group of behind-the-scenes collaborators to give his film the same postmodern pop art aesthetic that colored previous outings Nowhere and The Doom Generation. Less distinctive than either of those efforts, Splendor is a modest film, but it's totally enjoyable within its self-imposed parameters. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
