I’ve never been to Los Angeles.  While I do hope to successfully get a screenplay produced someday, it isn’t something I hold out real promise for.  Maybe if my life had gone differently, if I’d been free to give that a shot in youth, I could have been a character in this low-budget but insightful and inspired film.

Alex Holdridge wrote and directed this black-and-white look at the fringe show business element; the actors and screenwriters who came out to the west coast with their eyes open, realizing they could easily fail, but still hoping to somehow succeed against the odds.  For Wilson (Scoot McNairy – yes, that’s not a typo) things did not start out so well.  He rolled his car on the way from Texas, he had his laptop stolen (along with his screenplay), and now he’s living with his roommates, moping and smoking pot while he laments his bad fortune.

With New Year’s Eve about to arrive, they convince his to post an ad on Craigslist to try and find someone to spend the evening with.  “It’s too late for Myspace or Match.com, Craigslist is your only hope” his pal tells him.  Through this ad he meets Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a sharp-witted and slightly unbalanced woman who is “interviewing” a number of men before deciding who to spend New Year’s Eve with.  The process of elimination leads to Wilson, and they begin spending the day (and night) together, in a journey through Los Angeles by foot, subway, and car.

At first, while the dialogue is effective and random, we’re not sure where this story is going to take us.  But soon we’re led through the characters hopes, their ability to unhappily face reality (in some cases), and their desire not to completely give up on their dreams.  I imagine Los Angeles, and the desperate multitudes watching year after year slip by without any progress, to be very much the way these characters are portrayed.

The black and white imagery works especially well.  A building can look beautiful one moment, and decrepit the next, as can the characters.  And unlike in many typical films, each character has far more history and back-story than we will ever learn, and those memories can be driving forces in their choices and actions.  Just like real people.  As Vivian says, “Sometimes you just have to let the shit storm come, take out your umbrella, get out there, and dance.”  Life has no rewind button, and it takes a lot to find the right person; or to know when you haven’t.

I am unsure if In Search of a Midnight Kiss is in national release yet, but if it is, go see it.  I believe the experience will be better on the big screen than on DVD.