The Baltimorons

The Baltimorons is terrific and features an excellent mix of humor, sweetness, hijinks, hilarity, warmth, wistful melancholy, and charisma that’s off the charts, both in the actors and the movie itself.

The greatest success of The Baltimorons, aside from how effortlessly funny it is, lies in its focused thematic weight, wrapped up in its setting.

It’s light on its feet but gradually gathers real emotional weight. It’s also beautifully shot and steeped in atmosphere. We walk away from it feeling like we’ve actually been somewhere and felt something.

Strassner and Larsen are an absolute delight to watch, and this is the kind of movie that indie cinema is all about.

Duplass and Strassner’s script traces the one-step-forward, two-steps-back progress of the main characters’ connection over the course of the night with delicacy, never stretching the boundaries of credibility.

Baltimorons is one of those little movies you might stumble across and be surprised that it hooks you. It does so despite — or more likely because — of its complete lack of flashiness or any self-evident attempt to “hook you.” Instead, it manages that simply with low-key charm and a warm, unpretentious humanity.

The Baltimorons aims for bittersweet rather than wacky. Didi is lonely; Cliff struggles with sobriety. And while the film has clear affection for its Baltimore locations (it’s dedicated to the workers killed when the Key Bridge collapsed in 2024), considerably less thought has gone into creating convincing situations for those backdrops.

"The Baltimorons" is a funny and charming slice-of-life tale that has the spirit of a low-fi ’70s romantic comedy, complete with characters who resonate as authentic inhabitants of their particular time and place.

A very pleasant, unusual, romance movie. Well worth watching. The main actors work well together so that pretty much makes the movie. Our view is: "make some popcorn and pull up a chair. It's worth it."

It’s frustrating to watch a film that many viewers are raving about and that has definite potential for artistic success but that nevertheless falls flat, mainly because it can’t get out of its own way. Such is the case with this latest offering from writer-director Jay Duplass of the Duplass Brothers producing duo. The problem here is that the picture has many of the elements needed to make the production work, but it has noticeable trouble deciding what it wants to do with them. In essence, it’s a quirky, occasionally dark romantic comedy about a former improv/sketch comedy artist, Cliff (Michael Strassner), a recovering alcoholic who’s also trying to bounce back from a failed suicide attempt by adopting a more conventional lifestyle with his well-meaning but micromanaging fiancée, Brittany (Olivia Luccardi). But that reform effort undergoes a massive shake-up one fateful Christmas Eve, when Cliff cracks a tooth and desperately goes in search of an available dentist. Fortunately, Cliff’s oral health hero miraculously materializes in the person of Didi (Liz Larsen), an older, attractive divorcee who attends to his dental needs but then ends up unwittingly becoming involved with her patient in a series of misadventures around Baltimore, all of which subsequently lead to the surfacing of unexpected (and not especially convincing) romantic overtones. The picture thus becomes an offbeat hybrid tale that combines elements from a host of genres, including romcoms, buddy movies and screwball comedies, many of them characterized by off-the-wall characters, improbable situations and colorful locales. But, as noted above, that’s precisely the problem here – the film is unable to pick and commit to a coherent, recognizable formula. Much of the first half, for example, plays like an overly silly Adam Sandler or Ben Stiller comedy, while the back end is reminiscent of some of Woody Allen’s relationship-oriented outings. And, through it all, the narrative is consistently and clumsily episodic, meanderingly moving from one segment (or bit) to another, trying (frequently too hard) to find a sustainable, workable groove. It’s an ever-elusive goal that, unfortunately, grows progressively tiresome. It’s as if the picture hopes to slip by on its treasure trove of unconventional elements and eccentricities, with dashes of serious material thrown in to try and give it a more mature, sophisticated vibe. Consequently, it mostly just keeps ambling along, prompting viewers to wonder when, if ever, it’s finally going to reach some kind of destination, particularly since there are a number of perfectly suitable end points along the way that fail to result in any kind of resolution. And, because of that, “The Baltimorons” winds up playing like a protracted exercise in foreplay (albeit fully clothed and largely social in nature) without (ahem) a satisfying climax. I’m at a loss to understand the hype surrounding this effort, especially the accolades it has received from the likes of the National Board of Review and the Independent Spirit Awards. So, if you’re looking for a movie that combines comedy, romance and relationship elements, check out the recently released offering “Is This Thing On?” instead, an offering that much more effectively reaches its potential in all of these areas. Indeed, potential is a highly coveted, promise-filled commodity in filmmaking – but not when it’s squandered.