ONE MORE SHOT – Review by Betsy Pickle
Back when Gwyneth Paltrow was better known for her acting than her entrepreneurship, she starred in a wistful, speculative romantic comedy called Sliding Doors about a woman in a road-not-taken scenario, using the London Underground as a magical portal. One More Shot literally references Sliding Doors, just to make sure you get the connection, but it’s not clear if the new film is trying to reach the same audience or a younger one.
There are certainly similarities – a winsome female protagonist questioning her life choices, an inexplicable magical conduit, cute accents (Aussie instead of Brit). It’s even set close to the same time period, just a couple of years later, against the backdrop of Y2K angst.
Does today’s moviegoing audience even know what “Y2K” is/was? It seems unlikely. But One More Shot is geared toward the instant-gratification generation, and it wants its conclusions reached quickly. And that probably works just as well for home-streaming viewers.
Minnie Vernon (Emily Browning), in her mid-30s, is a hard-working anesthesiologist with no personal life. One day, she meets a patient who’s about to give birth – to the child of Minnie’s former fiancé, Cameron (Oliver Coleman). After that gut punch, Minnie feels that she’s due a grand sob session at home. Well, technically at her lesbian best friend’s home, where she has been staying since Cameron dumped her. Adding to her angst is the fact that Flick (Anna McGahan) and her partner, Max (Contessa Treffone), feel that Minnie has overstayed her welcome.
Pressured into attending a New Year’s Eve party of old friends at the home of Rodney (Ashley Zukerman) and Pia (Pallavi Sharda), Minnie perks up when she finds out that her on-and-off lover, Joe (Sean Keenan), is going to be there. Finally, something seems to be going Minnie’s way! But in the months since Minnie has seen Joe, a lot has happened. His life has changed, even though Minnie’s hasn’t. It’s going to take a stiff drink – or five or six – to get her through the evening.
Minnie has brought with her a long-ignored bottle that she discovers contains “time-traveling tequila.” But like most movie characters who try to harness the power of magic, Minnie discovers that the unexplainable can be uncontrollable.
The script by Alice Foulcher, Gregory Erdstein and Heather Wilson veers from comical time capsule to more serious current concerns. Viewers of a certain age might get a kick out of the throwback to Y2K panic; others, not so much. Elements of infidelity, alcohol abuse, post-partum depression, toxic manhood, narcissism and self-actualization flit about, providing some protein to go along with the fluff. While it’s not on the same level, the film even bears similarities to a certain Bill Murray classic. The cast members ably hit the right notes, with Browning commanding the spotlight throughout Minnie’s roller-coaster journey. Aisha Dee and Hamish Michael stand out as the main two outsiders.
Director Nicholas Clifford doesn’t try to squeeze the film into a particular box. It’s alternately funny, silly, sad, disturbing, sweet, irritating, insightful and relatable. It’s a slice of life – albeit an only-in-the-movies life. Just like its double-entendre title, One More Shot delivers more than its premise promises.
