Covino and Marvin twist the breakup comedy into something brash, raunchy and unforgettable
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
Another film co-written by Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino of 2019’s “The Climb,” with Covino once again directing and Marvin and Covino playing the male leads, the seriously offbeat, raunchy romantic comedy “Splitsville” begins with a shocking turn of events. Married couple Carey (the tall and bearded Marvin) and Ashley (Adria Arjona, “Hit Man”) appear to cause the death of an innocent person with their car sex antics just before Ashley informs the completely smitten husband that she wants a divorce. This causes him to exit their car in a daze and walk through woods, ponds and a lake (I think) to get to the fabulous East Coast beach house of their rich, married friends Julie (Dakota Johnson) and Paul (Covino), where Carey and Ashley had planned to stay for the weekend.
Also at the beach house is Julie and Paul’s young son, Russ (Simon Webster), who seems to be going through a crisis (he listens to a band named Aborted Fetus when he’s perched in the car seat of the family Range Rover). He also just sank an angry neighbor’s Jet Ski. By the time Carey arrives at Julie and Paul’s place, Ashley has already been there and left, having filled them in on her pending divorce. Julie and Paul take the opportunity to inform Carey that their marriage is “open,” essentially meaning Paul can have sex with whomever he pleases, Julie, too, but she thus far has not been so inclined.
“Splitsville” features a lot of violent, hand-to-hand fighting between Carey and Paul, especially when Paul learns that Carey and Julie had sex while he was just away, negotiating the sale of an apartment house in New York City’s Chinatown. For her part, Ashley has taken a bartender home with her and soon she has a growing number of lovers, who for some reason all hang out at the place she shared with Carey. The fight between Paul and Carey escalates. They destroy some expensive-looking coffee and dining room tables. Carey has already spilled red wine on a $20,000 rug. How long do you think Russ’s very big aquarium has to live? They do try to save the fish, especially one named John Paul II.
“Splitsville” is both a screwball comedy and a slapstick comedy. Even Russ gets into the action when he de-pantses a school bully off camera, inadvertently causing him to break his arm (and getting Russ expelled from his, yes, expensive private school where Carey teaches phys ed).
“Splitsville” often plays like a sequel to Johnson’s recent effort, “Materialists,” in which Johnson plays a hip and savvy New York City matchmaker who appears to have made a great match for herself. (By the way, the film has just crossed $100 million mark at the worldwide box office, suggesting a need for romance at the movies, even (especially?) the crazy kind.) Also, Ashley is a life coach who is currently dating a mentalist who can really read her mind. The plot pivots when Paul experiences some sort of financial disaster, and all his and Julie’s accounts are frozen, and the Range Rover is repossessed. The film is broken up into chapters with subtitles, which, to be honest, do not add anything. But that’s OK. Invocations of “Vanilla Sky,” “Lorenzo’s Oil” Malcolm Gladwell and the Code of Hammurabi give the film an offbeat, wide-ranging quirkiness that is appealing, even if the laughs don’t always land.
Johnson and Arjona, who also produced the film, are both gifted comic actors. As those of us who saw “The Climb” know, Covino and Marvin make a good team as well and do, again. Covino is sort of an Italian-American variation of the nebbish/schlub from New York, except he’s a wheeler-dealer, and (or so his wife thinks) a ladies’ man. In spite of his imposing height and ruggedness, Marvin’s Carey, who has, Julie observes admiringly, a horse-like appendage, is kind and softhearted. Although he falls for Julie and enjoys sex with her, he is also still in love with his wife.
“Splitsville” is a fun whirl, especially if you’re in a romantic relationship with the person with whom you watch it. Speaking of which, one must address a subject regarding these two couples. Both wives are (I know this is verboten) ridiculously hot, while both husbands are not so much. That discrepancy happens all the time in real life since most men do not win the tall, rich and handsome trifecta. They might be one or two of those things. But not all of them, a subject brought up repeatedly in “Materialists.” Funny thing is that if a man is rich, he doesn’t have to be tall or handsome. I suppose it’s churlish to acknowledge this truth in a world that is supposed to have evolved. But… Dream on.
‘Splitsville’
Rating: R for language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Kyle Marvin, Michael Angelo Covino
Writers/Directors: Michael Angelo Covino
Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Where to Watch: AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Coolidge Corner Theater
Grade: B+
Boston Movie News 