In the winning comedy Vanilla, Elliot (Will Dennis) is stuck in a regimented life of coding software, emerging from his apartment only for gym workouts and food. Kimmie (Kelsea Bauman-Murphy) is a kookie free spirit, but she’s stuck, too, unable to fulfill her aspiration to become a stand-up comic. Events conspire to lead the two into a three-day road trip from New York to New Orleans. Kimmie pitches it to Elliot as a date. But Elliot really sees the chance to reconnect in New Orleans with his ex-girlfriend Samantha, for whom he still pining. What could go wrong?
We have an odd couple on the road, so funny stuff happens – and this is a funny movie. Naturally, the audience is waiting for the two to jump into bed together. But Vanilla is fundamentally a portrait of these two people, both comfortable in their ruts. Elliot is posing as an entrepreneur, and Kimmie is posing as a comedian-in-the-making; something is going to have to shake up these two so each can grow. Kimmie seems utterly intrepid, but we learn that she can be paralyzed by self-consciousness, just like Elliot.
Vanilla is written and directed by its star, Will Dennis, in his first feature film. It’s an impressive debut, rich in character-driven humor.
Dennis understands not to linger on a gag; (Yorgos Lanthimos should pay close attention to this). Dennis has Elliot try to eat a beignet in a bayou tour boat; it only works because it’s the briefest of gags. There’s a montage of bad would-be comics at an open mic night that is brilliant in its understanding of why they think they’re funny and why they’re not. Dennis also works in a random encounter with America’s most earnest fish store guy (Lowell Landes). And “Anyone ever tell you that you have a Natalie Portman thing going on?” becomes a very funny come-on line.
Dennis is very good as Elliot, subtly capturing his unease, judginess and pathetic obsession with Samantha. Bauman-Murphy makes Kimmie’s kookiness, which could easily be annoying, lovable.
Jo Firestone is perfect as Elliot’s ex Samantha. Firestone shows us a glimpse of why Elliot would fall for her, and then a massive dose of why she’s bad for him. Let’s just say that I recognized Samantha (as a friend’s ex-girlfriend, not mine).
The satisfying ending of Vanilla is authentic, true to the characters and NOT what would be expected from a run-of-the-mill rom com.
Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Vanilla, where Silicon Valley audiences will appreciate Elliot’s delusion that his clunky app will go viral – if only users would spend enough time learning it.