K-SCORE: 41
Director: Max Nichols
Writer: Mark Hammer
Starring: Miles Teller, Analeigh Tipton
Spoiler Level: Moderate
“there’s more toilet-related conflict than I expected... some burglary”
Two Night Stand is a simple rom com starring Miles Teller and Analeigh Tipton with the premise that, after a desperate one-night stand, the two are stuck together because the apartment is snowed in.
Tipton’s character, Megan, is an unemployed girl whose life has gone awry after her long-term boyfriend dumped her. You’d think I would grasp onto the story from a life-running-parallel perspective. I did a little bit. The fact that the characters, especially Megan, are not in a great place in life, still finding things funny in general, and don’t cure everything with the newly developing romance is a huge asset to the movie. Little bits of breaking free of the rigid genre molding go a long way in films like this.
But the script is still far too weak. The pair aren’t great together and aren’t together for very long so when the ‘big reveal’ and climax come along, it’s hard to buy that either or both Megan and Alec would readjust their lives to cling to their relationship. Alec especially flicks a switch late in the film and suddenly has lines like, “I don’t want her; I want you,” which are just God-awful.
Also, I tended to enjoy the banter between the two characters and a few of the honest moments they shared, but their actions range from forced (a writer who creates characters but not plot has this problem) to downright despicable. There is more toilet-related conflict than I expected, some burglary, significant breaking and entering, and an annoying reliance on pot for humor. Then at the end, Alec plants evidence of Megan’s crimes in his neighbor’s apartment so she’s arrested so he can find her and post her bail, which is irredeemably unethical. No way should Megan stay with him after that, let alone go back to him.
The premise wants to explore sex in new relationships too, I guess, but aside from driving some comedy, it doesn’t really work, being neither funny on its own nor sexy. Regardless, those scenes tend to be better than when the characters are committing random nonviolent crimes for no reason.
Ultimately Two Night Stand is a small film - in scope, length, appeal, etc., very easy to watch, and has a few working elements that kept me engaged. If the script had been redrafted a couple more times to focus on chemistry and development of these two young people, found ways to be funnier, have more fun, it would have been good. As it is, it loses its identity and charm because of forced outrageous actions. Like its snowed-in characters, Two Night Stand doesn’t know what to do with itself and consequently doesn’t get very far.