On Parade
This is the third film from writer/director Edgar Muniz I’ve watched in three years, and his work is growing ever more assured and mature with each film. 2009’s “Rocks & Pebbles & Happiness” was very much par for the course for DIY filmmakers– personal, rough around the edges, but interesting in the way it deals with its characters. His 2010 film “Someone Else in the Evening,” which was one of my very favorite films of 2010, was a leap forward as it looked at a young woman’s struggle to find her voice in college. Now with “On Parade” he has taken another very different story and shows further maturation in his artistic voice. It’s by far my favorite movie so far of this young year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was among my favorites for 2011 when all is said and done.
Muniz plays Manny, a college professor whose relationship with Patty (Laura Benson, the star of “Someone Else in the Evening”) is not quite as strong as his friendships with Ray (Nicholas Null) and Tess (Mo Shirazi, who directed Muniz in last year’s “Doorways and Meander”). We first see Manny and Patty when she’s making it clear to him she’s not too excited to see him with a beard, saying frankly that he shouldn’t be expecting any play until he shaves it off. That brief moment sets the tone for the entire film, during which we’ll see all three men deal with intimacy (and more accurately, sex) in different ways with the women in their life. With Ray, there’s his girlfriend Lynne (Gabriela Maruri), while Tess seems to have a few women he’s spending time with, first a “pity sex” session with an ex and more with the blond Courtney (Colleen Boag), as well as with an internet encounter.
Muniz and co-writer Seth Johansson are dealing with some compelling themes of male insecurity, bonding, and the ways men aren’t able to connect with woman emotionally or physically. We’re (and yes, I’m putting myself in the same boat with these guys for the sake of discussing this film, although I’ll admit to being guilty of some of the same mistakes) unable to open up emotionally and think of anything but ourselves even when we say we’re doing something for someone else. Tess gets some sexy photos from his internet pal, and tries to get Manny to take some “sexy” photos of him, which Manny (for some obvious reasons) tries to talk him out of. Ray and Lynne both want to work out, but neither of them really wants to work out together. And Lynne has a passion for photography, but when she gets accepted to a photography school, Ray only looks at what it might mean for him rather than supporting her. And when Manny and Patty try to have sex, well, let’s just say things get awkward and kind of uncomfortable. Manny wants to try news things suddenly, and Patty just wants him to talk to her about why. None of these guys appear to be ready for any sort of mature, healthy relationship, and all three actors are unafraid to show this lack of maturity and arrested development in their performances. The only time these guys seem to feel really at home with themselves is with each other. I’m sure a lot of guys can relate. I know I can.
I haven’t really discussed the women in the movie, partially because the film is so much about the men. The two that stand out, however, are Benson (who has an intimacy with Muniz that’s palpable after having worked with him previously) and Maruri. In a way, they are the two most realized female characters in the movie, although Manny’s interactions with a Nina (Cuyapi Ahimsa Scott), a student who might have more on her mind than just class questions, reveal an uncommon depth in just a couple of scenes. Benson’s Patty isn’t quite sure what to make of Manny’s sudden interest in the kinky side of sex, but she tries to accommodate, while Maruri’s Lynne wants to share things her interests with Ray, although there are times when she just seems to go it alone (such as her interest in photography). These two are, in their own ways, the type of women I’m sure a lot of guys would like to be with (intelligent, strong, and wanting to be intimate without being clingy), and that’s a credit not just to Muniz and Johansson’s script but the actresses who bring them to life.
In the end though, nobody’s perfect. Everyone in this film has hangups and things they’ll need to get past in order to get to a healthier place. Still, it’s hard not to watch “On Parade” and think, “men really are stupid sometimes when it comes to women.” Personally, if I were a woman, I’d look at it as a good thing if you hear that coming from a guy; it means he’s learning.
