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Helena from the Wedding
2010
Lee Tergesen will play Alex Javal in
this independent film written and directed by Joseph Infantolino.
The
official site for the movie has this description:
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HELENA FROM THE WEDDING is the debut
feature film from writer/director Joseph Infantolino. Shot
mostly in sequence in and around a small cabin in upstate New
York, this nuanced and often funny portrait of marriage and
anxiety in the late blooming professional class revolves around
one dark night of the soul of Alex Javal (Lee Tergesen), who is
feeling so out of sorts that he fails to appreciate his new
wife, Alice (Melanie Lynskey), and the new life she represents
and enables.
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The story takes place over the course of a weekend
long New Year’s Eve party that the Javals host for their closest
friends and one unexpected guest, the very beautiful and very
young Helena (Gillian Jacobs).
"Helena from the Wedding" will have its world
premiere at the SXSW Film Conference and Festival, to be held March
12–20, 2010, in Austin, Texas. Lee has said he will be in
attendance. The screening schedule is as follows:
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Sunday, March 14th - 7:30pm - Alamo Ritz 1
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Monday, March 15th - 2:00pm - Alamo Lamar 2
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Thursday, March 18th - 4:00pm - Alamo Lamar
2
The
SXSW site describes the movie as follows:
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Newlyweds Alex and Alice Javal host a New
Year’s Eve party at a cabin in the mountains for their closest
friends and an unexpected guest in this nuanced and often funny
portrait of marriage and anxiety in the late blooming
professional class. Cast: Lee Tergesen, Melanie Lynskey, Gillian
Jacobs, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Fitzgerald, Dominic Fumusa,
Jessica Hecht, Corey Stoll.
Full synopsis
Here's a longer, more detailed synopsis from
the press notes for the film:
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As Alex and Alice Javal arrive at a remote
cabin in the mountains to host a weekend long New Year’s Eve
party and go through the routine of opening up the house,
reminders of the past abound. Christmas decorations from the
just passed holiday are still in evidence. Old pictures of
Alex’s family are on display. Trophy mounts of animals long
since killed stare down from every wall.
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On the surface, Alex
and Alice seem like happy newlyweds, yet there is a subtle
undercurrent of unease they are both fighting to control. Is it
Alex’s failed play? The prospect of children that confronts the
newlyweds on the brink of middle age? Whatever it is, it will
have to wait as the guests begin to arrive.
Alex’s best friend Nick (Paul Fitzgerald), newly separated from
his wife, is expected to arrive with his new girlfriend, the
very beautiful and very young Lola. Nick arrives with only a
cooler of meat to cook for dinner. Their childhood friend Don
(Dominic Fumusa) arrives in his beloved classic jeep and in an
argument with his wife Lynn (Jessica Hecht).
The final guests, Alice’s pregnant friend Eve (Dagmara Dominczyk)
and her husband Steven (Corey Stoll), bring a surprise guest,
Eve’s friend Helena, who was a bridesmaid with Alice at Eve’s
wedding.
When Helena seems to ignore him, Alex’s formerly vague sense of
discontent becomes acute. In fact, at first, there is almost no
evidence that Helena and Alex spent time together at Eve’s
wedding, a time in the past when Alex was feeling a lot better
about himself.
As the weekend progresses towards New Year’s Eve, Alex becomes
more and more unhinged as his effort to recreate the excitement
of his earlier time with Helena falls flat. Seemingly oblivious
to his new wife and the new life she represents and enables, it
seems like suddenly nothing is going right in the life of Alex
Javal. But it’s only when he finds himself in the woods on his
back wearing camouflage, that Alex begins to realize just how
lost he may be.
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