This film is about the relationship of Dell and Kimberly, a young couple from Los Angeles. "Comet" follows their six year love affair in good times and in bad, with random scenes of private conversations set in various locales. The main pride of this project is its insightful and witty script brought to life by two sensitive actors.
The script is written by director Sam Esmail. It is amazing as a debut script for a debut film. His ambition seemed modest, but the final product can be enchanting. The script was full of memorable quotable quotes and eloquently-worded sentiments throughout its 90 minute running time, like the following:
"He called himself a Bob Dylan song and proceeded to call me a Britney Spears song. I don't know what it means, but it sounds insulting." "You're a now person. I'm a 5-minutes from now person." "You said you believe in love. I don't. So let's put it to a test. Date each other, me and you, In a relationship. Let's do it." "I don't belong in a world where we don't end up together." "I never thought love was real, now I think life isn't real without it."
Justin Long and Emmy Rossum have excellent chemistry together. That is one big reason this film worked, despite feeling pretentious at first. Those long conversations may seem like senseless 'flights of ideas" on paper, but these two actors make these lines believable and real. Glib Long plays Dell consistently throughout, the hip, pothead narcissist that his character was, around whose point of view the story is told. Beautiful Rossum plays his dream girl Kimberly going through a whole range of emotions like she was being two different women as she falls in and out of love with Dell.
Of course, we have already seen many movies like this. The "Before" series by Richard Linklater immediately come to mind. But instead of a continuous straightforward narrative, "Comet" breaks up the scenes into seemingly random order. This gives the film a more cosmic air that it aspires for. The gauzy, filtered photography and innovative camera angles also contribute to the dreamy effect. That final scene, a minute of silence as two suns rise over the horizon, packed such an emotional wallop.
This film is not literal. It leaves the audience to decide what the film means to them as individuals. You decide which was reality and which were dreams among the various events that flash before you on screen. Dell was telling himself (and us) from the very beginning, "This is not a dream". But is it, or isn't it? Now I think I want to watch it again. 7/10.
