This week\u2019s minor VOD releases aim for big statements about sexism, spirituality, and the sweep of history, but only manage occasional success with simple emotions and even simpler beatdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upon Waking<\/em><\/strong> (VOD February 14):<\/strong> There must be a better way for two people on a first date to get to know each other than being exposed to carbon monoxide, falling unconscious, and communing in a sort of purgatory while waiting for their bodies to either die or be revived. But that\u2019s what sweet, wholesome Irene (Elsie Hewitt) and snarky, cynical Molly (Vanessa Dubasso) face at Irene\u2019s house when Irene accidentally leaves the oven on. Stuck as disembodied spirits while time passes at a much slower pace in reality, Irene and Molly play board games, cook, learn new languages, and confront their personal demons, sometimes in the form of cheesy-looking apparitions from their pasts. Hewitt and Dubasso have minimal chemistry, and writer-director Max Rissman seems as timid as the initially prudish Irene, allowing his characters only a couple of chaste kisses. The already ridiculous movie leans heavily into quasi-religious messaging in its final half-hour, with muddled lessons about sacrifice and forgiveness that turn a potentially cute, upbeat romance into a dour sermon. Grade: D+<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jade<\/em><\/strong> (VOD February 18):<\/strong> Rising action star Shaina West looks the part, but director James Bamford doesn\u2019t have the vision to pull off the Blaxploitation homage that his title character calls for. Instead, Jade<\/em> sticks to tiresome DTV action beats, with intermittent visual flourishes. Whenever West\u2019s reluctant avenger is beating up bad guys, Jade<\/em> is watchable enough, and West (who\u2019s amusingly credited as her own stunt double) clearly has the goods for a higher-profile action career. Bamford rarely lets her moves do the talking, though, relying on slo-mo and cutesy graphics to overemphasize Jade\u2019s badassery. The disjointed story feels interminable at just 88 minutes, with multiple unnecessary twists and double-crosses, as factions on both sides of the law vie for a hard-drive McGuffin that Jade has inadvertently acquired. Mickey Rourke mumbles his way through a listless villain role, and B-movie veteran Mark Dacascos does a bit of baton-passing to West as Jade\u2019s mentor. If only he could have passed her a better movie to star in. Grade: C<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Three Birthdays<\/em> (VOD February 18):<\/strong> This three-part family drama starts out strongly before eventually getting dragged down by contrived melodrama. Married academics Rob (Josh Radnor) and Kate (Annie Parisse) and their daughter Bobbie (Nuala Cleary) all celebrate their birthdays within the span of a few weeks in April and May 1970. Bobbie\u2019s opening segment is the most intriguing, a coming-of-age story about a teenager who\u2019s been raised with the values of the sexual revolution and is figuring out how to apply them to her own life. The tension between openness and tradition defines all three birthdays, and while the marital concerns between Rob and Kate are less compelling, most of Three Birthdays<\/em> is a solid, small-scale film about flawed people during a time of major cultural upheaval. That falls apart in the finaOur mini-reviews of \u201cJade,\u201d \u201cThree Birthdays,\u201d \u201cTrigger Happy,\u201d and more of this week\u2019s VOD and limited-release offerings.\u2028l act, which inserts the characters into a real-life tragedy in a way that feels phony and manipulative. A rushed epilogue hand-waves the complex interpersonal issues away in favor of somber but unearned historical resonance. Grade: C+<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n