The All-American dream of home ownership comes in for some gentle ribbing in "Closing Escrow," a pseudo-documentary written and directed by Armen Kaprelian and Kent G. Llewellyn. The film follows three quirky couples and their equally zany realtors as they endure the trials and tribulations of buying and selling a home.
In all honesty, it takes awhile for "Closing Escrow" to work its way into the audience's affections. The humor, in the early stages, comes across as overly broad and arch, and the movie feels too derivative of all those Christopher Guest films like "Waiting For Guffman," "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind." to be entirely original. Yet, long about the midway point of the story, the concept begins to pay off and the movie glides smoothly to its conclusion. Moreover, the actors elevate the humor with their marvelously deadpan performances and impeccable sense of timing.
"Closing Escrow" is no barnburner of a comedy, but it does succeed in providing us with a decent number of good-hearted and good-natured laughs by the time it's over - not too shabby an accomplishment for any comedy these days.
In all honesty, it takes awhile for "Closing Escrow" to work its way into the audience's affections. The humor, in the early stages, comes across as overly broad and arch, and the movie feels too derivative of all those Christopher Guest films like "Waiting For Guffman," "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind." to be entirely original. Yet, long about the midway point of the story, the concept begins to pay off and the movie glides smoothly to its conclusion. Moreover, the actors elevate the humor with their marvelously deadpan performances and impeccable sense of timing.
"Closing Escrow" is no barnburner of a comedy, but it does succeed in providing us with a decent number of good-hearted and good-natured laughs by the time it's over - not too shabby an accomplishment for any comedy these days.