FILM INFO: Corey Caruso, a charming, unmotivated 30-something living in Portland is unwittingly stuck in the past. He is accompanied by Claire, Josh, Paul, Annie and Gina - each battling their own "adulting" mishaps and hilarious encounters - at times with eccentric characters. The mutual quest is that of love, adventure and true happiness - but at what cost?
WRITTEN BY: Tristan David Luciotti DIRECTED BY: Tristan David Luciotti, Kyle Martin GENRE: Comedy TIME: - Web Series -
The current fad on everyone's mind today, seems to be time travel. Time travel to the 1990s to be specific. Nostalgia for many current filmmakers, and their friends, dictates the 90s to be the perfect decade for such adventures. The video games. The clothes. Hell, even the lingo hold a special place in many a heart now-days. Enter "Adventures In Adulting" to the scene. A show that is, in fact, a time travel series with the later half of the 90s, as the destination of choice. Following a pop-up ad while at work, our protagonist Corey, pays for and is instructed on building a time machine. This was the one cool thing offsetting his otherwise brutal day. What follows? Just what you think follows. A web series on traveling back in time - that both hits the mark, and completely misses in equal parts. For people like myself, who spent a good chunk of my teenage and early adult years during the period, I simply couldn't help but feel that nostalgic joy. Simply some of the slang, gestures and "things" of that decade always put a smile on my face. If you didn't grow up during that period... Tristan David Luciotti, who penned the script(s), didn't add much in for you to enjoy. Sorry young people. Most of the comedic dialog and visual gags will simply go unnoticed or not understood at all. Yet, even for people like me who get it... "Adventures In Adulting" still managed to distance itself sometimes. The real downer however, is the technical limitations due to a small budget. More on that below. For indie productions, you generally know what you're getting into. The jist of it is simple however, the producers don't have a hundred million bucks to play with. They don't have the cash for a half a million dollar camera rig - or a person to operate one. It's all about heart and creativity for the average independent production. Emphasis on heart. The simple fact of the matter is - that finishing any indie, low budget project, is a small miracle. Finishing an ongoing series is even tougher. Yet with all that written, "Adventures In Adulting" has a lot of technical flaws that could have been fixed with whatever editing program they used. Many shots seem massively under exposed. Dark faces and bright backgrounds. We also have a lot of coloring issues within the same scenes. One shot bright and neutral, followed by the next shot being severely contrasted. This could have all been fixed during post production with slight color adjustments. None of this really matters though. Lets talk about the entertainment value of the show. Honestly? It's up and down. There are times when it feels like the show itself is simply going overboard with the 90s references. Kind of cramming it down your throat. Yet there are also references and jokes that hit the mark completely. Say... for example... a Kurt Cobain reference and joke about him not being remembered. Ha-ha! Perfect! For me however, the biggest concern was with the storytelling itself. "Adventures In Adulting" is a highly serialized show. However... each episode doesn't really tell an individual story. The perfect example would be episodes one and two. Bluntly? Nothing cool really happens. We have the setup, a lot of exposition and then, the cool-ness starts - but the episode is over. Shows need to tell mini stories within the far reaching narrative. For this show, if the producers shortened say... the first and second episode, then combined what was left of them into one, that could have been a great way to go. A start, middle and end. Even a serialized show needs this to keep the viewers engaged. I've written a lot of personal, technical babble that may not feel all that flattering... but I only do-so because I see the real potential of this show. The potential to be so much more than just a decent series. It does have it's moments, and it did make me laugh. I actually enjoyed a "lot" of the three episodes I've seen thus far. The characters are great... and surprisingly real, even when seemingly over the top. The concept is fun and the talent is clearly here to push the series forward. I'll be checking in again, and revising my thoughts as the series goes on. For now? If you're looking for a few laughs and have some time to kill - this could be the perfect answer... and it's free to check out. What's stopping you?
