Backstage comedy on a mountaintop

To sit down in solemn silence on a mountaintop.

That is all that John (John Armour) actually needs from his backpacking journey, which types the idea of the film Hello from Nowhere, written and directed by Portland filmmaker Anthony Orkin. However there may be valuable little silence to be discovered on this musical comedy, which begins streaming November 8 (don’t overlook to vote).

John and his accomplice Lanie (Summer time Rain Menkee) are on a {couples} getaway with Brendan (G. Scott Brown) and his new girlfriend Denise (Denah Angel), who’re visiting from New York Metropolis and venturing into the Pacific Northwest backcountry for the primary time. At their lakeside camp, the pair of lovers meet Jason (Sean Paul Ross), a kilt-wearing mountain man who claims he’s been mountaineering the Pacific Crest Path. However there may be extra to Jason than meets the attention, and his virile presence brings the campers’ simmering relationship issues to a boil.

In some way, Gilbert and Sullivan suits into all of this. The {couples} have memorized the vocal components to a fictional G&S revue, which Lanie and Brendan carried out again after they have been highschool sweethearts. For Denise and John, this musical schooling was not a labor of affection, however the consequence of their choices up to now actors. John is very sick of the patter—and makes this identified. Jay Brandon Martin’s spectacular orchestral rating retains the temper mild.

Love (the adulterous variety) is within the air, and characters break into music each different scene.

Though Lanie and Brendan’s outdated flame threatens to be rekindled, it’s the spark between Denise and the mysterious Jason that catches. Fortunately there aren’t any forest fires: Good day from Nowhere is much less a fully-fledged intercourse farce and extra like a Portlandia skit with an eighty-minute runtime.

That stated, the movie’s preliminary cheesiness offers method to palpable relationship stakes within the second act. After the gang invitations Jason over for dinner, one-too-many rounds of consuming video games leads to everybody’s emotions getting damage. The loose-lipped honesty is fueled by wine—and the pure grain alcohol Jason carries round in a flask. “No water weight,” he says slyly, in reference to John’s disdain for an overstuffed backpack.

Everybody’s wired on hooch and resentment, and no one will get any sleep. John storms off after Lanie turns him down for intercourse (apparently this occurs rather a lot) and Denise suspects Brendan nonetheless harbors emotions for Lanie. Jason volunteers to go searching for John, and the odd couple share a moonlit second on an overlook, which John says resembles a postcard—one that may learn “Good day from Nowhere.” The tender temper is spoiled when Jason exhibits his true colours, and the movie performs style hopscotch: transferring from comedy to thriller earlier than returning to the world of operetta.

The film is filmed on Mount Hood, and Orkin finds revolutionary methods to weave the setting’s pure splendor into his storytelling. My favourite instance of that is when John, Brendan, and Jason stroll all the way down to a stream to pump water. After they arrive on the riverbank, Orkin (who additionally edited the movie) cuts to a cascading waterfall, adopted by photographs of river rapids in fast succession, ending with a gradual stream that flows into Brendan’s air purifier.

Elsewhere, aerial footage and lingering mountain photographs showcase Mount Hood Nationwide Forest in much less particular, if nonetheless gorgeous, contexts. Though the dramatic peaks and pines really feel extra redolent of Wagner than Gilbert and Sullivan, the acquainted territory shall be of curiosity to audiences, a lot of whom have probably camped on Mount Hood a few times.

Good day from Nowhere is an insider movie—it’s tailor-made to theater folks—and I’m wondering what a viewer who by no means acted in a faculty play may take away from it. (Don’t go tenting with actors, possibly?) That stated, the forged is charming sufficient to tug off the movie’s quirks. It’s a decent ensemble, and the actors ship persistently hilarious performances with out changing into caricatures, seeing Orkin’s endearingly odd idea by means of to a satisfying finish.

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• “Good day From Nowhere” streams on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube Films, and different streaming platforms starting Tuesday, Nov. 8.