Committed

Committed is an adventuresome romp into the nature of romantic commitments that combines an eclectic comic touch with genuine insight and veracity. In this fanciful contemporary fable, enlivened by an exceptional and distinctive performance by Heather Graham, writer/director Lisa Krueger once again plays with our expectations to create a wonderfully absorbing and mischievous tale bout love's bonds (her Manny and Lo played in the 1996 Festival).

Joline (Graham) is madly, deliriously in love with Carl (Luke Wilson). She loves him so much she's willing to tattoo her wedding band on her finger and overlook transgressions like the fact that two weeks after their marriage, he decides to go find himself by taking a job in the Southwest (they are New Yorkers). Even though she's not quite sure where he is anymore, she takes off on an odyssey to save her marriage and fulfill her vows. When, after a journey filled with misadventures and perils, she succeeds in tracking him down to discover the obvious, she still stakes him out and endeavors to bring him back into the field.

Whether or not any of this quest makes sense is certainly questionable, but with the aid of her brother, a Chicana girlfriend, and an old Mexican medicine man, Joline emerges as an innocent and naive woman operating in a world where social mores and inhibitions have lost their meaning. Combining a decidedly quirky, even farcial, tone with a querying, thoughtful sensibility, Krueger succeeds in fashioning an engaging, yet reflective, examination of social conduct and individual tenacity.