The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green
D: George Bamber; with Daniel Letterle, Meredith Baxter, David Monahan, Diego Serrano, Dean Shelton
Based on the series of comics of the same name by Eric Orner, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green applies Murphy’s Law to the romantic comedy genre. The titular Ethan (played believably by Letterle, previously of Camp) is unlucky in love, lust, real estate, and just about everything in between. His coterie of exes – including Kyle (Serrano), the recently outed baseball player; Punch (Shelton), the seemingly never-closeted man-hound; and Leo (Monahan), the man so uptight as to pursue a relationship with a gay Republican – enter and exit through the revolving door of Ethan’s life with startling speed. Adding some refreshing X’s to this XY bonanza are Ethan’s mom (played by Baxter, reprising her role as the mother of a gay son, i.e., Elyse Keaton from Family Ties) and the only slightly luckier in love of the lesbian variety Charlotte (Shanola Hampton). Bamber keeps the comedic characters and situations rolling from one scene to the next, but seemingly attempts to cram the entire Orner catalog into a small package. Luckily the precocious cast makes this sometimes-goofy endeavor well worth viewing. Much of this burden lies on the shoulders of Letterle, who handles the balance of comedy and loser’s charm seamlessly, making him easy to identify with. For your sake, try not to identify too much. – James Renovitch
Saturday, Oct. 8, 9:30pm
This article appears in September 30 • 2005.