It’s a Disaster (2012) [R] ****

An edited film review by Peter Debruge for Variety.com on July 8, 2012.

A toxic device detonated in downtown Los Angeles ruins an otherwise routine couples’ brunch in the slow-to-start, fun-to-finish It’s a Disaster, a smart, character-driven chamber play in which the cataclysmic off-screen event escalates the tensions between four already testy pairs.

Pete (Blaise Miller) and Emma (Erinn Hayes) have been hosting Sunday brunch with their closest friends forever, but this weekend, they’re planning to drop a bomb on the group: After years of marriage, the seemingly perfect couple is splitting up. The news would no doubt dominate the gang’s weekly reunion if someone else — maybe terrorists, maybe aliens — hadn’t dropped a real bomb a few miles away.

A toxic cloud, either radiation from a dirty bomb, or VX nerve-gas, is slowly spreading toward them, and audiences have reason to be grateful, since it radically shifts the focus away from the superficial small-talk of the overlong first act. If such an incident can have a silver lining, it’s how radically the off-screen attack improves the drama of an otherwise insufferable get-together. Once the guests figure out the explanation for all the sirens and power outages, Emma’s vegan quiche suddenly doesn’t seem so important.

Since most of the brunch-goers have known each other for years, writer-director Todd Berger introduces a well-meaning newcomer to serve as audience surrogate: David Cross, still in daffy Arrested Development mode, plays Glen, who arrives with Tracy (Julia Stiles), the one woman in the group who can’t seem to hold a boyfriend. By contrast, Buck (Kevin M. Brennan) and Lexi (Rachel Boston) have a bed-hopping open marriage, while Shane (Jeff Grace) and Hedy (America Ferrera) have been engaged longer than many marriages last.

As for Tracy, sooner or later, all of her boyfriends turn out to be crazy, which explains why she has chosen someone like Glen who appears to be normal. Cross is ready-built for the kind of awkward comedy that ensues whenever he tries to connect with such a close-knit clique, as when the poor outsider is propositioned by Buck and Lexi looking for one last three-way.

Considering how shrill and obnoxious everyone seems when Glen and Tracy arrive on the scene, it’s uncanny how Berger manages to win over the audience. Still, by the film’s hilariously hopeless ending, many will be feeling a mild form of Stockholm syndrome, having been captivated in these desperate final hours by such a colorful group of clearly delineated characters.

Part of the fun is watching how such extreme circumstances change the various individuals’ personalities. Ferrera goes into shock, and Stiles, who plays a physician, gets pushed aside somewhat because Cross is needed to serve as a go-between with all the others. But Berger’s script does a fine job of giving each of the characters a reasonably juicy reaction to both the situation and the various unresolved issues in their relationships.

Writer-director Berger, who makes a cameo as Hal, a nutty neighbor wearing a hazmat suit and gas mask, doesn’t indulge in any especially wild or creative choices behind the camera. Rather, he shrewdly sticks to a screenplay that is more than dense enough with clever jokes and punchy conversation to carry the concept.

Whether serious (Testament) or satiric (Zombieland), any film concerned with the fallout from a major disaster, whether radiation or nerve gas, depends heavily on character, and this is where all the attention paid to building a believable ensemble pays off. Audiences may not care about this group when the party starts, but once the real situation becomes clear to everyone, the group makes for pretty interesting and entertaining company. [Debruge's apparent rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 = 70%]

Labels: comedy, drama, Julia Stiles, satire
IMDb 64/100 
MetaScore (critics=57, viewers=67) 
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=63, viewers=68) 
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