A droll, peculiar, oddly affecting but not wholly original film about peoples reservations and desires regarding connecting with each other in the modern world, Me and You and Everyone We Know is the feature film debut of the 31-year-old American artist Miranda July. July plays the lead, a struggling video/performance artist who in the meantime is running a taxi service for the elderly. She comes across an enigmatic but rather plain mall shoe salesman (John Hawkes) and gets smitten (dont forget that this is Amer-indie world where eccentrics dont have much trouble finding each other!). Anyway, it turns out that the salesman is the father of two more sensitive-types (Miles Thompson and Brandon Ratcliff) from a marriage which happens to be an interracial one. His neighbors, including a perverted co-worker, a couple of sexually promiscuous teenage girls, and a younger more responsible girl are also part of the makeup. (It also seem like all the "interesting" people live on the same block in the indie world; and if not, then they just keep bumping into each other.)

First of all, July needs to be commended for trusting her vision and sensibilities. She isnt making many grand rhetorical statements here. I highly respect that this is a very personal effort and I wish there were more of them. Having said that, her vision is rather narrow-minded. Most of the teenagers in MaYaEWN are Clarkian manifestations: its all about sex. Slyly, though, July has a younger girl contrast the others (she collects minor household items for her dowry!) but in the real world its not one way or the other. Conversely, the adults in the film are awkward and shy since they practically have no interpersonal skills. But July has a charming personality and shes well supported by Hawkes so that doesnt become a huge issue. One particular scene between them which takes place on a sidewalk is well-documented and deservedly so because its one of the highlights of the film along with a remarkably tense sequence involving a goldfish (youll know when you watch the film).

MaYaEWN tied for the Camera dOR at Cannes earlier this year with the Srilankan film The Forsaken land, but on the whole the film is a bit over-rated. Much has been written about her sensitive handling of the issue of child sexuality, which she has but without much depth. Other maverick filmmakers have done it better but their films arent "cute" and those filmmakers are certainly not photogenic young women. Amateurishly, July goes overboard with one of the characters: a bitchy and arrogant museum curator whose final scene in the film feels false and contrived, not to mention a bit exploitative. (One recent quote from her is very telling: "Sometimes I think I'm going out on a limb in a way that'll bring everyone together and it turns out completely alienating.") While Im sure, like any performance artist, July went through some struggles early on in her career, but by staging those sequences she just seem a little too miffed for someone whose work has been shown at the likes of MoMA and the Guggenheim, and she already has a decent following in the art-world.

What I do love, however, are the minor moments between the father and his two sons having trouble relating to each other in any way, shape or form. I love the pink dots on the dashboard; those pink shoes (its safe to say that pink is her favorite color); the aforementioned goldfish; the electronic score etc. Her minimalist approach is certainly consistent and she has the ability to transcend even the most mundane of activities. But, while Ghost World (2000) was comparably more cynical and certainly more conventional, it left much more of an impression as a whole. MaYaEWN has its moments but theyre fleeting and they dont come together as well, and much like its final scene, they leave you a little unsatisfied.