PEROXIDE PASSION

Produced and Directed by Monty Diamond
Written by David Atkins
Edited by Martin Levinstein, Anne McCabe, and Jack Haigis
Director of Photography - Igor Sunara

Jed - James Tupper
Mimi - Lorri Bagley
Johnny - Billy Campion

By its very nature, the romantic comedy is a formulaic beast. You know by the end of the first act exactly who is meant to be together in the end. The enjoyment comes from getting to that point. You know the road will be bumpy, things never go smoothly. They can't in a romantic comedy, that's where the climax always comes into play. It's just a matter of witnessing the true strength and power of love. The best romantic comedies are the ones that can teach the viewer something about love itself.

And as soon as my wife returns my balls to me I'll tell you about PEROXIDE PASSION.

Just kidding, I'm not married.

Seriously, though. I'm a man content in my sexuality to the point where I can freely admit to enjoying a good romantic comedy. And that's exactly what PEROXIDE PASSION from director Monty Diamond is, a good romantic comedy. It's a movie that never tries for greatness, it's content to just coast along at good leisurely pace. That fine with me, my comfort levels aren't set very high.

I can't say the same for Jed, a man whose fiancé just left him at the alter with a would-be father-in-law threatening to crush his windpipe if the word "dad" ever came out of Jed's mouth again. Torn between Dad and hallucinations of a giant, talking pickle, it's easy to see why Jed is wound so tightly. He's trading one life for another and trying to take the lesser of two evils. His life is destined for failure, just as to how much is up to him.

Watching PEROXIDE PASSION, I was reminded of two of my favorite romantic comedies, ANNIE HALL and MAD DOG AND GLORY. Both are accurately cynical takes of modern love. Often people come together out of necessity and loneliness, and nothing more. Sometimes they're right for one another, sometimes they aren't. But if they can find that one moment of happiness, then it's all worth fighting for. Sometimes people are destined to be together, sometimes they aren't.

Unlike ANNIE HALL and MAD DOG, PEROXIDE PASSION's cynicism isn't an outgrowth of bitter filmmakers (at least I don't think so). It's a product of the times. When the divorce rate is over 60%, kids today see that most marriages are just a matter of convenience based on financial negotiations and good sex. Call me jaded, but love rarely seems to be part of the equation, at least not until reality sets in. That's why I find a truly sweet romantic comedy so amazing, they aren't concerned with the matters of the world, just about being in love with so much blind abandon that nothing else matters.

While the tone of PEROXIDE PASSION is contemporary in nature, the execution is not. It's the closest thing to a screwball comedy since MOONLIGHTING went off television in the early 1990's. This is a road movie like IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT offset with the absurdity of SOME LIKE IT HOT. Star Lorri Bagley even goes so far to as to provide one of the most dead-on mimic's of Marilyn Monroe that I've ever heard.

Like all great screwball comedies, it's the verbal lashings of the stars that provide the humor. Screwball comedies draw on the notion that there's nothing sexier than two smart individuals bickering about everything except the sexual tension between them. Deep down they know that once their attraction is acknowledged there won't be anything to talk about.

One of the things that SOME LIKE IT HOT did was to trade its female lead's intelligence for a street smart naivety. Picture Monroe's character in a modern setting and you've got a pretty good picture of Bagley's Mimi, a capricious chatterbox who couldn't be more different than Jed. But as the saying goes, opposites attract. Have you ever wondered why that is? I've always thought it was completion. In that other person one finds components that we're missing. With them, we would be whole.

One of the reason ANNIE HALL was so effective is that the characters were already complete. The problem was just trying to fit the other person in. If you can't adapt, you won't find happiness. PEROXIDE PASSION is about wanting to adapt. It's about doing what you have to in order to change yourself to be what the other person wants. It's also about selling yourself short and not waiting until you find the person you complete.

No, PEROXIDE PASSION isn't a great movie, but it has it's moments, lots of ‘em. More importantly than achieving greatness, PEROXIDE PASSION has a voice, one that says great things, things you can learn from. PEROXIDE PASSION is a statement on modern love told with the insightful wit of past masters and testifies to the timelessness of love, even in today's cynical times.

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