Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

SnoopyStyle Writer Davy Mitchell takes his younger brother Sean on a road trip to promote his short stories collection. Davy gets a random phone call from a stranger named Nicole (voice Katie Aselton) in a motel. They get into a phone sex relationship. He meets Josie at a bar but he gets interrupted by Nicole and Sean brings Josie back to the motel room. Lonely introverted Davy begins a long distance relationship but Nicole refuses to give him her number. Sean teases him about it. Davy starts dating Sean and girlfriend Sarah's friend Samantha (Marguerite Moreau) after a party.This has an interesting idea and a few interesting scenes. However even the good stuff is problematic. The lead character is so pathetic that it's hard to watch. Brian Geraghty is a good TV actor but this problematic lead has to be played by somebody with a ton of natural charisma. I'm thinking Paul Dano. Talking on a phone is not visually cinematic. Talking to Samantha is twice as interesting visually. The two-truths-and-a-lie game has great potential. Kel O'Neill really puts a big fat fastball down the middle of the plate. The movie needs Davy to hit it hard. It's a letdown moment. That should have been the turning point leading a big climax. Instead, it goes into an extended downhill slide and a final unsatisfying twist. Also Katie Aselton should not be Nicole.

runamokprods While far from a perfect film, this is a welcome reminder of why indie film-making is so important. This is a story you haven't seen before, told in a bold and honest way, and willing to deal with complex emotions and no answers. It all starts when a shy, introverted writer on a pathetic book tour(accompanied by his brother) gets what seems to be a wrong number a call from a sexy sounding strange woman that morphs into hot phone sex (all in one long multi minute take). The odd development of this intense and mysterious ongoing phone relationship, and how it effects Davy's lonely life makes up the rest of the story, often going in delightfully or disturbingly unexpected directions (which I won't spoil here). There are some real weak spots. Some of the actors aren't quite up to the sophisticated subtlety of what Averez is going after. No one is 'bad' but great actors in certain choice roles could have brought out much more. There also a cinematic cheat that is so obvious, and so central to the story that it really alienated me at a key moment. But I'm still glad I saw the film, and I find it resonating with me the next day.

glastris First of all, Brian Geraghty can really act. His portrayal of the lead character was both controlled and believable. What could have been a caricature of the loner/nerd/intellectual was in fact a sympathetic portrait of a lonely man who is socially awkward. If you watch this, look for his facial expressions, they were spot on, and I'd assume, the most difficult part of the body to act with.While the phone sex is part of the relationship between Danny and Nicole it takes a natural turn to friendship/relationship. Danny lets Nicole know that is what he wants, and she is trying to hold back, but obviously wants more as well.The fact that he's a writer shows that he lives in his own head, to an extent. When he's confronted by a real chance of love/relationship/sex he fails and/or bails (the bar scene and his encounters with Samantha). He even, probably unknowingly states that when he tells the girl in the bar that life on the road isn't what it's all he'd hoped for (and then she sleeps with his brother instead). Boy reality really does bite, doesn't it? Finally, and here is where the spoilers come in, the final scenes do not need to be looked in a gay/straight way. To me it was about possible/impossible, fantasy/reality. I don't think Danny is gay or closeted, I think he's just had to realize that he fell in love with a woman who isn't and doesn't know what to do about it.....who would?

evanston_dad Who would have thought that one of the performances of the year would be found in this obscure little indie that practically no one has heard of? Brian Geraghty, who had a small role in last year's "The Hurt Locker," plays Davy Mitchell, a struggling writer with an almost pathological case of social awkwardness. On a book tour through the middle of nowhere to promote a collection of short stories, he receives a random call from Nicole, a horny girl with a nice voice and a penchant for phone sex. Davy finds the fantasy girl on the other end of the line much easier to talk to than any of the real-live articles he comes across, and decides at the end to arrange a meeting with Nicole in person to see if the reality can match his expectations."Easier with Practice" is a fantastic movie with a very rich ending. There's a somewhat major plot twist, but the film doesn't build itself up around it, and the ending isn't so much about what happens between Davy and Nicole as about what happens to Davy. He learns some things about himself -- namely, that he's not the only lonely soul out there -- and we learn some things about him -- namely, that he's a kind and caring individual with the ability to handle complex emotions without taking his personal insecurities out on others.The final scene between Davy and Nicole is one of the best acted scenes I've seen in a movie this year.Grade: A