Splitsville

On a weekend trip to see his best friend, Carey (Kyle Marvin, who also co-wrote the screenplay) and his wife, Ashley (Adria Arjona), witness a fatal road-rage-related car accident. Shocked, in a state of disbelief, Ashley sees this as a sign. A sign that she’s living a life she’s settled on, and sees herself transforming into someone she doesn’t want to be. And, she says, she wants to have sex, specifically with people who are not Carey. She hasn’t been faithful to him, and she wants to continue this particular trajectory, the having-sex-with-people-who-aren’t-her-husband phase of her life.

Shocked, in a state of disbelief, Carey runs from the car, however many miles to his best friend Paul’s house (played by co-writer/director Michael Angelo Covino). Paul, ever the enlightened one, explains that he and his own wife Julie (Dakota Johnson) have avoided this particular conflict, and that their secret is that their marriage is open. They sleep with whoever they want to sleep with, and they can keep the details to themselves or share as much info as they want with their partner. It’s up to their own comfort level.

One night, while Paul is ostensibly in the city “for work,” Carey and Julie sleep together. In the spirit of openness, Carey tells his best friend what happened, and they immediately get into an epic, all-out brawl, replete with broken glass and homemade flamethrowers made out of aerosol cans. A rift begins to form between the friends, despite Paul and Julie’s belief that anything was fair game between them. Carey suggests the open-door policy of marriage to Ashley, as they await finalizing their divorce, to see if maybe this whole polyamory thing works for them.

There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about Splitsville, or what it has to say on the age-old debate of whether humans are monogamous creatures or meant to share multiple partners. This, of course, is impossible to answer, as there are different strokes for different folks, and the film doesn’t even attempt to answer that question. Instead, Splitsville is about what happens when deeply immature people overestimate their abilities. All four of the leads believe that they’re beyond traditional human behavior and that things like jealousy and pettiness don’t apply to them. And when they do get jealous and petty, they’ll typically have a convenient excuse up their sleeves to justify it. In their justifications and plots for revenge, things spiral out of control for everyone. Crimes are committed. People go to prison. People lose their jobs. People shack up and unshack and swap to and fro, based on the whims of their mood on that day.

Splitsville is a cute, quirky dramedy of errors that often feels like a happy marriage between multiple genres (how appropriate, given the subject matter). It’s part mumblecore drama, part slapstick raunchfest, and part romantic comedy. While it’s never frequently laugh-out-loud funny, per se, it does have a dry wit about it, and it’s as successful as it is due to the chemistry between the four leads, who all seem to genuinely like each other.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Splitsville arrives on Blu-ray in a single-disc release, housed in a standard case with cover art from its original theatrical run, an artistic rendering of the foursome, the two men bearing wounds and scars from their fight.

Splitsville was shot on 35mm film, and it really shows on this 1080p HD presentation. While the video transfer is largely grain-free—spare a few lowlight sequences with lens noise in the shadows—it still maintains a distinctly filmic look. Cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra understands the tone of each scene and lights accordingly. Splitsville never ventures too far into darker territory, but scenes with a tenser edge are shot with harsher lighting and aggrandized shadows. Softer, funnier scenes are bathed in a warmer glow, accenting the stark, white Nancy Meyers-esque aesthetic. Close-ups and fine details are both rendered sharply, making this a terrific-looking disc.

Viewers are treated to a robust 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix that’s engaging throughout. The sound design is very cognizant of off-screen cues. A loud honk from a car located behind the viewer will pipe in through both rear speakers, engaging the subwoofer in the action. A person walking off screen, as they talk, will trigger one rear speaker, or one side of the LCR channels, giving a wonderful sense of sound directionality. The musical score encompasses the entirety of the soundstage, both front and rear, enveloping the viewer in a ring of sound.

Like most new disc releases these days, special features are a bit scant. Basically, we get a making-of featurette, plus some trailers and TV spots, and that’s it.

• The Making of Splitsville (HD 7:14)
• Trailer
• TV Spots

Splitsville is a funny, light, little character-driven dramedy that isn’t always successful, but it’s charming enough to coast on the strengths of its leads. It’s an old-fashioned kind of story that’s dictated by the decisions these characters make, in all their well-meaning intentions—even if their intentions are steeped in vindictiveness and jealousy. People will get hurt, and their souls will be damaged, but hey. It’s a learning lesson for everyone. Splitsville on Blu-ray boasts some great A/V stats, too. It’s Recommended.