Hello Again

Hello Again, dir. Tom Gustafson, 2017 USA, 105 min. 👌
Thursday, June 22, 9:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première

Hello Again

There have only been three previous film adaptations of Off-Broadway musicals; this is the fourth, an adaptation of Michael John LaChiusa’s 1994 play of the same title, which in turn is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler. It consists of ten vignettes of romantic liaisons from the early 20th century through to the early 21st, with a single prop as the through connection: A sleeps with B, B sleeps with C, and so on. Unfortunately, that single prop provides a pretty tenuous link, especially when it seems to travel back and forth in time: the item passes from one scene to the next, even when they are out of chronological order. There’s a small scene at the beginning, reprised at the end, that tries to make sense of it all, but with little success.

I absolutely adored Tom Gustafson’s previous film, Were the World Mine, so much so that, after seeing it at the InsideOut festival in Toronto, I still attended both Frameline screenings. It was very nearly enough to make me care about rugby! However, I found myself bored repeatedly in Hello Again, fidgeting and counting the pairings to see how much more of the film was left to screen. The singing and the acting are all top notch, of course, with some big names from Broadway and Hollywood among the cast. I just never felt drawn into the story in any satisfying way. Recommended, especially for musical theater mavens, but not by any stretch a must-see.

• IMDb page • Official website (SPEAKproductions) • trailer • Twitter: @HelloAgainMovie •