Probably could have predicted this but Dramarama suffers from an extreme overdose of drama. The only question becomes if this is a deal-breaker in the overall quality of the film. Some of the drama is rich and relatable and some of it feels painfully confected.
The
film centres on the group of teenage drama nerds assembled for a costume murder
mystery party to celebrate host Rose’s imminent departure for New York
University. The impeding break-up of the long-time friendship circle
exacerbated by the disparate paths each member is looking to take beyond their conservative
slice of small town America. Particularly in focus is Gene, hoping to finally
come out to his closest friends.
However,
its not too long before the party becomes derailed by the appearance of dropout
pizza-guy JD, an archetypal cynical slacker. JD’s contrarian remarks cut deep
at the group’s bonds; from their love of drama to their evangelical upbringing,
to Gene’s repressed sexuality. Bringing to the surface all manner of underlying
tensions regarding the feasibility of their ambitions, insecurities about their
own talent and fears that their relationships might not have been as strong as
they once thought.
As
material for a coming of age story set over one night that is…a lot. Not that
it’s unrealistic that a group of friends might have all these feelings and
tensions but to bring all of them out at once is overwhelming to say the least.
It feels as though writer/director Jonathan Wysocki was terrified of having a
moment of dead air in his feature debut. So he sought to pack every single
scene with as many sources of tension between the characters as he could.
It all
coalesces into a satisfying film with realistically drawn, endearing
characters. However, try as they might, the young cast can’t overcome dialogue
that feels over-written. Especially as they continue to allow JD to intrude on
their festivities even as he’s acknowledged to be an obnoxious disruptor. The
group’s chemistry is fun, especially the way in which they incorporate their
love of theatricality into their merriment. All of which feels genuine while being
immensely entertaining to watch. What doesn’t fell genuine is the notion that
all this baggage would get let out all at once.
Dramarama is, appropriately, a very fun
party. It may be a little time in terms of both the content and food quality
(seriously, who celebrates with alcohol-free cider?) but that cast of
characters are a sweet, well-meaning bunch. For a freshman director like
Wysocki it’s a solid effort, with a strong ability to compose ensemble scenes
and authentic sense of nineties design (though the period setting is so incidental
it feels almost irrelevant). It’s only the script that let’s the film down at points,
rendering the many, many sources of drama irritating by their needless spuriousness.
