Dan's Papers - October 20, 2006

As most locals will tell you, everything just seems better in the Hamptons. The light is better, the sand is whiter, the food tastes better, and no matter how hard life gets, it's always better here than it would be anywhere else. So, although other film festivals may have locally-grown films of their own, the Local Catches at this week's Hamptons International Film Festival are, well, better. Two films in particular, dynamic duo Ben and Orson Cummings' If I Didn't Care and Bruce Leddy's Shut Up and Sing, seem to paint the most entertaining pictures of the East End and are both worth waiting in line to see.

If I Didn't Care is a delectably melodramatic Hamptons murder-mystery involving a beautiful, frosty New York City lawyer and her house-husband, who lives with his dog in her Bridgehampton home. Far from being a happy, local-bump-on-a-barstool, Linus is fed up with the arrangement and kindles a relationship with a young real estate agent to assert his independence, but with dire consequences. The highlight of this story is a stellar performance by Roy Scheider as a no-nonsense, relaxed Bridgehampton cop who has all the time in the world to catch his crook, and always gets the one he's after. Though the Hamptons winter backdrop is cozy in its way, the score of crackling jazz, introduced by the title track, If I didn't Care sung by The Platters, gives the film an eerie quality. The entire film appears to have been shot on location, and it is startling to see a murder being planned steps away from the playground in Agawam Park, and criminals throwing tarp-wrapped bodies into Long Island Sound off of canvas-topped Boston Whalers. While it is not exactly a date movie, as none of the romantic relationships end well, this film would be a perfect complement to one of those long winter nights, a flannel blanket, and plenty of popcorn.

Bruce Leddy's Shut Up and Sing, however, is a date movie in the vein of When Harry Met Sally, with a decidedly Hamptons flavor. This film has received wild praise from every film festival it has screened at, and has always shown to sold-out audiences. This might very-well be the best film you see, or miss, at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and it just happens to have been born and raised right here on the East End. The story follows a group of young-ish New York City couples, a nanny, and a recently-divorced man out to their friend's house in the Hamptons for one of their college buddies' weddings. All of the men in the film were in an a capella singing group in college and although they all go to the usual New York City-type office jobs, they get together once a year to practice their singing, hang out, and reminisce about their college days. The singing in the film is a real treat, and endears the boys to the audience as soon as they utter their first note.

At first, the situation seems simple, as the couples bicker and kiss, the thirty-something guys smoke pot on the golf course for a bachelor outing, while their wives complain about the lack of passion in their love lives. Then, all clichés are thrown aside as each character's facade begins to show signs of wear. Despite all of this commotion, the film ends neatly, and will leave every couple in the room with happy smiles and warm longings for their own weekend getaway. Local viewers will appreciate the tribute-to-the-Hamptons montage, and will all recognize the Bridgehampton sign, the Water Mill windmill, and scrubby golf courses sprinkled through out the film.

The Hamptons have been used as film backdrops ever since directors started shooting society dramas on location, and as Hamptons residents, we have had the pleasure of seeing our beautiful environment up on the silver screen for many years. But there is something special about movies that not only use the Hamptons as scenery, but incorporate the unique dynamics of its towns and their residents into their plots as well. In these movies, not only can we see our selves and our lives, but the rest of the world gets to see us, and in a pretty glamorous light, as well.

If I Didn't Care will be playing at Guild Hall in East Hampton on Thursday, October 19th, at 8 p.m. and on Friday, October 20th, at 11 a.m. Shut Up and Sing will be playing on Friday, October 20th, at the East Hampton United Artists at 8 p.m., and on Saturday, October 21, in Montauk at 8 p.m.