Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Peter And Vandy is my kind of movie.  Quiet, understated, relationship-driven.  Showing two people struggling to make their relationship work, despite their underlying differences.

Peter and Vandy: Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler.  They meet one day in a park, and thus starts their time together.  But this scene is not the start of the movie. That’s because this movie doesn’t follow a linear timeline.  In fact, the movie jumps all over the place.  With very few clues to help the viewer understand the order of things, one must use the context of the scene to figure out what is really happening.  And, yes, occasionally, I was wrong in my guess about where we were in the timeline.  But it all pretty much comes together by the end.

I credit the actors, themselves, with helping to make the story understandable.  Their performances were really well-done.  Their facial expressions, alone, help the viewer to figure out what stage of their relationship we’re seeing at the time.

So, for the most part, I was able to follow the movie, despite the constant jumps in time.  Therefore, I found myself engaged in the story, and interested in seeing how it would all work out.

My husband, on the other hand, found the movie over-the-top confusing, and gave up a half hour into it.  He was tired of struggling to understand what was going on, and decided this movie just wasn’t for him. 

I don’t blame him.  This movie is definitely not for everyone.  It is sad, indeed heart-wrenching at times.  I felt torn, watching these two very different people attempt to work things out, when they are just so different from each other.  Their personalities clash, and it’s a wonder they ever made it to a second date, frankly.  But I know people like that, and I was fascinated, watching their very realistic portrayal of a couple for whom nothing comes easy.  Half the time I found myself shaking my head, wondering why they don’t just walk away from each other.  But at other times, I really wanted to see them work things out.

While Ritter and Weixler get 90% of the screen time, there are a few poignant scenes involving other actors as well.  Jesse L. Martin and Tracie Thoms play a long-married couple, who also struggle with each other.  I loved how, in those scenes, Peter and Vandy are completely aware of the other couple’s issues, but so clueless when it comes to their own.  Again, I found this to be quite realistic, and well-done.

So, as you can see, I enjoyed Peter And Vandy.  I’m sure there are many viewers who will find this movie to be difficult to follow, and, frankly, dull.  But I appreciated it, both for its “dare to be different” approach, as well as two very fine performances.





Recommended: Yes