SXSW Film

Surrogate Valentine

Emerging Visions
D: Dave Boyle; with Goh Nakamura, Chadd Stoops, Lynn Chen

Boy actor meets boy musician, falls in love (with his music), and invites the troubadour to be part of a film project loosely based on the very real world of the touring artist and ... a film is born. Cast as himself in this buddy/road movie, indie acoustic crooner Nakamura struggles with fans and his own underactive mojo when a filmmaker pal hires him to teach one of her actors, Danny Turner (Stoops), how to fake it convincingly. Danny is the obnoxious L.A. foil to Goh's understated shoegazer, and the two hit the road. What other than the wacky formulas for clashing personalities ensue? Girls, of course. Neither of these hapless dudes has much game, but, fortunately for the audience, they encounter girlfriends. Quite frankly some of the film's brighter spots involve turns by TV character actor Chen and Logo series star Calpernia Addams, both sadly underutilized in this sleepy yet charming bromance.

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Saturday, March 19, 1:30pm, Alamo Ritz 2