An unusual take on the rom-com genre, “Two Night Stand” offers some interesting commentary on the hook-up culture in the millennial generation, asking whether two 20-somethings can make an emotional connection after such a short period of time.
The directorial debut of Max Nichols, son of “The Graduate” director Mike Nichols, the film stars Analeigh Tipton (“Warm Bodies”) as Meagan, an NYU graduate with a pre-med degree but no job.
After her long-time boyfriend dumps her, Meagan’s roommate Faiza (Jessica Szhor, “The Internship”) encourages her to rebound with online dating. Within hours, she finds a match and treks all the way from her East Village apartment to Brooklyn to spend a night with Alec (Miles Teller, “The Spectacular Now”).
When she goes to leave in the morning, however, she can’t leave: it turns out that New York is in the midst of its worst blizzard on record, trapping her in Alec’s apartment. This situation forces them to spend more time than they would like in each other’s company, which eventually turns into something more.
Though this premise is rather absurd by romantic comedy standards, by restricting the film to Alec and Meagan’s dialogue and isolating them within the apartment, Nichols creates an intimate atmosphere full of subdued colors.
Though the film is not a raunchfest like “Neighbors,” screenwriter Frank Hammer’s script does have some genuine laugh-out-loud moments, such as Meagan breaking into the neighbor’s apartment to borrow a plunger, Alec putting jelly in his oatmeal and Meagan wondering why his name isn’t spelled with an x.
The centerpiece of the film is arguably the conversation where Alec and Meagan discuss what men and women get wrong about sex, as they decide that if they’re not going to see each other again, they may as well give constructive criticism to each other.
The dialogue about women being anxious about having sex with the lights off as opposed to men enjoying a good striptease feels genuine, but it’s hard to take those statements seriously when Meagan suggests that they “test these ideas out. You know for science,” cutting to a sequence of them in bed while distracting techno music by the DeLuca brothers serves as a soundtrack.
The film also fails to escape the cliché third act “couples breaking up because of a misunderstanding” trope that plagues so many romantic comedies, treating this moment with a sense of gravitas that makes it seem out of place.
In terms of the performances, Teller is particularly good as Alec, as he transcends the hipster Brooklyn dude type with wit and charm. Popular rapper Kid Cudi (credited here as Scott Mescudi) provides some genuine laughs as Jessica’s boyfriend Cedric, trying to get Meagan to move out of the apartment to spend some intimate time with his girl.
“Two Night Stand” is a mixed bag. While much better than any Katharine Heigl rom-com or “The Other Woman,” it certainly does not explore the complications of millennial love compared to films like “500 Days of Summer.” Though it has some funny moments and good performances, the jarring tones between silly and serious make this film a mixed bag.
“Two Night Stand” (R, 86 min) is now playing at AMC Hoffman Center in Alexandria.
