''Peter and Vandy'' is a 2009 American romantic

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

starring

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series '' Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series ''The Event'', ...

and

Jess Weixler Jess Weixler (born ) is an American actress. She played Dawn O'Keefe in the comedy-horror film ''Teeth'' and Jordan in the comedy ''The Big Bad Swim''. Early life Weixler graduated in 1999 from Atherton High School in Louisville, Kentucky, wh ...

. The film was written and directed by Jay DiPietro, adapted from his own play of the same name which opened in 2002 in New York.

Plot

''Peter and Vandy'' is a love story told out of order. Set in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, the story shifts back and forth in time, juxtaposing Peter and Vandy's romantic beginnings with the twisted, manipulative, regular couple they become.

Cast

as Peter *

as Vandy *

Jesse L. Martin Jesse Lamont Martin ('' né'' Watkins; January 18, 1969) is an American actor and singer. He originated the role of Tom Collins on Broadway in the musical ''Rent'' and performed on television as NYPD Detective Ed Green on '' Law & Order'' and ...

as Paul *

Tracie Thoms Tracie Nicole Thoms is an Emmy-nominated American television, film, and stage actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''Rent'', ''Cold Case'', '' The Devil Wears Prada'', ''Death Proof'', and the short-lived Fox television series ''Won ...

as Marissa *

Noah Bean Noah Whipple Bean (born August 20, 1978) is an American actor best known for his roles as Ryan Fletcher on The CW action-thriller series ''Nikita'', as David Connor on the FX legal drama ''Damages'' and his leading performance in the independent ...

as Andrew *

Bruce Altman Bruce Altman (born July 3, 1955) is an American film and television actor. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. Early life Altman was born in The Bronx, New York. He is of Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish ...

as Dad *

Dana Eskelson Dana Erika Eskelson (born in Brick, New Jersey) is an American television, film, and theatre actress. Filmography *''Past Midnight'' (1991) *''Singles'' (1992) *''To Sir, with Love II'' (1996) *'' Exiled: A Law & Order Movie'' (TV, 1998) *''C ...

as Emma *

Kristina Klebe Kristina Klebe ( ; born 1979–1982) is an American actress, director, producer and writer who came to prominence for her portrayal of Lynda Van Der Klok in Rob Zombie's '' Halloween'' (2007). Her other film roles include ''Proxy'' (2013), Nei ...

as Michelle *

Zak Orth Zak Orth (born October 15, 1970) is an American actor known for his roles in ''Wet Hot American Summer'', ''The Baxter'', ''Melinda and Melinda'', ''In & Out (film), In and Out'', ''Music and Lyrics'', and ''NYC 22''. He also starred in the NBC te ...

as Keith *

David Rasche David Rasche ( ; born August 7, 1944) is an American theater, film and television actor who is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the 1980s satirical police sitcom ''Sledge Hammer!'' Since then he has often played characters ...

as Alan *

Maryann Plunkett Maryann Plunkett (born c. 1953) is an American actress and singer. Plunkett has performed on the stage both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has appeared in the entire play cycle of Richard Nelson's ''Apple Family Plays''. In 1987, she won the T ...

as Mom

Release

The film selected and premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

on January 19, 2009. It opened on a limited release basis in the United States in October of the same year. It has been screened at various film festivals, including: the

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...

, the

Gen Art Film Festival Gen Art is an arts and entertainment organization that showcases emerging fashion designers, filmmakers, musicians and visual artists. It has produced over 100 events annually, which included fashion shows, film premieres and screenings, live music ...

, the

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

Dallas Film Festival, the Waterfront Film Festival, the

Provincetown International Film Festival The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held on Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films f ...

and the

Tallgrass Film Festival The Tallgrass Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Wichita, Kansas, specializing in independent films. It was founded in 2003 by Timothy Gruver. Gruver was raised in Wichita. He studied filmmaking at Brigham Young University. After c ...

. A DVD of the film was released on February 9, 2010, in Region 1.

Reception

Critical response

''Peter Vandy'' drew mixed reviews from critics. , the film holds a 65% approval rating on review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 20 reviews with an average rating of 5.55/10. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' film critic Jeannette Catsoulis gave the film a mixed review, praising the film's acting, photography, and soundtrack but saying "nonlinear structure...and unrevealing dialogue too often hold us at arm's length, a puzzle to be solved without sufficient clues....''Peter and Vandy'' is more a designer frame for actors than nourishing entertainment." By contrast, film critics Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of the web-based ''Spirituality & Practice'', praised the nonlinear structure, saying "the filmmaker challenges us to understand and appreciate that intimate relationships stand or fall on the basis of how couples handle trifles and everyday routines. ''

Metromix Metromix LLC was a Chicago entertainment website at Chicago.Metromix.com, owned by the ''Chicago Tribune'' division of Tribune Publishing. It served the Chicago metropolitan area. The website now redirects to that of the Chicago Tribune. History ...

'' film critic Geoff Berkshire also liked the film, saying it offers "a refreshingly clear-eyed look at relationships," comparing it to ''

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (also simply known as ''Eternal Sunshine'') is a 2004 American romantic science fiction drama film written by Charlie Kaufman, directed by Michel Gondry, and starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. P ...

''. "The non-linear approach relies on both subtle and obvious visual clues to keep the audience properly oriented, and enhances the narrative...DiPietro's dialogue is sharp and Ritter and Weixler credibly flesh out characters who aren't always likeable, they're just two regular people trying their best at love." Meanwhile, panning the film in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', critic Todd McCarthy felt "Some of the linear deck-shuffling creates small frissons, but there's no underlying tension or subtext to shore up the banal talk."

Awards

Nominated *

: Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic, Jay DiPietro; 2009.

Soundtrack

Track listing

*"Abel" by The National *"

Wet and Rusting Menomena is an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, made up of Justin Harris and Danny Seim. Both members of the band share singing duties and frequently swap instruments while recording. In concert, Seim plays drums, while Ha ...

" by

Menomena Menomena is an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, made up of Justin Harris and Danny Seim. Both members of the band share singing duties and frequently swap instruments while recording. In concert, Seim plays drums, while Ha ...

*"Brace Yourself" by

Les Savy Fav Les Savy Fav ( ) is an American indie rock band based in New York City. Their style is influenced by art punk and post-hardcore. The group is known for the stage presence of lead singer Tim Harrington. The band is signed to Frenchkiss Records, ...

*"Air Better Come" by

The Shaky Hands The Shaky Hands were a Portland, Oregon-based rock group, formed in 2003 by musician Paul Culp (Lonesome Radio Heart, Culpepper), and Colin Anderson. Nicholas Delffs joined soon after on vocals and guitar. They spent the next three years graduall ...

*"Enticing Luxuries" by Chris DiPetrio *"Overture" by

Patrick Wolf Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps; 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Wolf uses a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano, and viola. He is known for combining electronic samp ...

*"Good Arms vs. Bad Arms" by

Frightened Rabbit Frightened Rabbit were a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. Initially a solo project for vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison, the final lineup of the band consisted of Hutchison, his brother Grant (drums), Billy Kennedy ...

*"Fireworks" by

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...

*"For Money or Love" by The Like Young *"The Same Old Song" by 33 To Nothing *"Gospel" by The National

References

External links

* at

Strand Releasing Strand Releasing is an American film production company founded in 1989 and is based in Culver City, California. The company has distributed over 300 auteur-driven titles from acclaimed international and American directors such as Apichatpong Wee ...

* * *{{YouTube, l0Uh3XXdQBU, ''Peter and Vandy'' film trailer at Strand Releasing Channel
Jay DiPietro
interview at

indieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

2009 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American films based on plays Films set in the 2000s Films set in Manhattan Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City 2009 directorial debut films 2009 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films