By: debbie lynn elias
You’ve just got to sample, FREE SAMPLES. I don’t know what is more enjoyable about the film – Jess Weixler’s star turn, Weixler and Jason Ritter, Weixler and Jesse Eisenberg or Weixler and the legendary Tippi Hedron. Each actor, each performance and each interaction is beyond magical and entertaining with distinctly unique tones to each relationship that not only show Weixler’s vast talent, but tell a full-bodied story. The title is an adorable metaphor as while Weixler’s Jillian is passing out free samples of ice cream, she’s on the receiving end of “free samples” of life. Written by Jim Beggarly and directed by first-time feature helmer Jay Gammill, if FREE SAMPLES is just a taste of what they have to offer as filmmakers, I’m getting in line for more as FREE SAMPLES is more than tasty. It’s a delicious delight.
Stanford law school drop-out Jillian has returned home to Los Angeles trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. Thinking she might be an artist, despite having absolutely no talent, she is unhappy, lacking any focus or direction, frustrated and angry (more at herself than anyone else although she won’t admit it), spewing vitriolic sarcasm at anyone and everyone, generally as the result of killer hangover following night after night of excessive drinking. Leaving behind her “kinda my boyfriend. . .kinda my fiancé” Danny when she quit school, Jillian doesn’t lack for company as her nights out often result in waking up the next day with some other misguided, misdirected blockhead whom she doesn’t remember meeting.
As comes as no surprise, on a particular day in question, Jillian wakes up with a hangover, wanting nothing more to stay in bed all day. But she has promised her best friend Nancy that she will cover Nancy’s work shift for her that day which means manning an ice cream food truck in an empty parking lot handing out free samples of an “ice cream-like substance.” Not being a people person let alone a people pleaser, the day takes as an interesting turn with Jillian forced to interact with a multiplicity of strangers – and acquaintances.
With everyone from guys asking if she sells stamps to a barfly named Tex whom she barely remembers giving her life advice to her best male friend Wally to former hoity toity law school classmates, not to mention her ex Danny, Jillian is at her droll, sarcastic best dealing with each, although admittedly caught of guard when Danny appears with someone else. But things take an interesting turn when an elegant, graceful woman named Betty stops by for her FREE SAMPLE.
No casual customer, Betty is a regular of Nancy’s and over time, the two have become friendly with Betty always stopping for conversation. No matter that Jillian is in the truck today, as Betty takes it upon herself to continue her routine with ice cream, a sit down and a chat. A now gracefully aged and still beautiful actress, Betty maintains a certain air and image, as evidenced by her mannerisms, attire, and walking with ski poles instead of canes. Admitting to keeping the tv set turned to TCM because it “seems like a reunion”, Betty imparts wisdom on life’s little lessons not to mention insight into some of Hollywood’s leading men, likening one to “walking sex in male form.” But will Jillian listen and take heed of Betty’s wit and wisdom?
As Jillian, Jess Weixler finally gets a chance to really showcase her vast range of talent and soar! And as she aptly notes, “I am in a lot of it. I’m in a whooole lot of this movie.” ; and she is – virtually every frame of the film. This is “her” film. Pitch perfect sarcasm with an often droll delivery, spunky and cool, believable emotional arc that is poignant and touching thanks to her chemistry with Tippi Hedron. And then there’s a defensiveness that she brings, like a mask to Jillian’s own loss, sense of direction and pain. Similarly, the carefree sweetness mixed with fun that Weixler shares with her former Peter & Vandy co-star Jason Ritter plus two major scenes with Jesse Eisenberg are wonderful to watch blossom. Why Weixler is still not a household name is beyond me. I’ve been championing her since Teeth and will continue to do so. She is the real deal, the full package and with her performance here as Jillian, everything comes together perfectly.
And then there’s Jason Ritter. As Wally, Ritter is fun, engaging and beyond likeable. As comes as no surprise, he is spot on and to see his chemistry reignite with Weixler is joyous. In the same vein is Jesse Eisenberg who brings his own patented matter-of-fact buoyancy and ease to the picture as Tex/Albert casting a spell of charm, pragmatic intelligence and kindness. Joining in the mix is Halley Feiffer who, as Nancy, delivers her own patented brand of laugh-out-loud funny.
Tippi Hedron is the cherry on top and you’ve got to hand it to Beggarly and Gammill for her character creation (aging beautiful actress) and the incorporating nod to one of her real life passions – Turner Classic Movies. Ironically, it was at the TCM Classic Film Festival where Hedron spoke exclusively with me about FREE SAMPLES. Lauding her young co-stars, Hedron excitedly admits to getting “energized” by working with young actors and filmmakers and with FREE SAMPLES notes, “They are all fabulous. Isn’t [Jess] lovely? They’re all so good and I love that movie. As Shakespeare said, ‘the play is the thing’ and this is such a good story. Such a good story. FREE SAMPLES is really wonderful. A lovely lovely film.” Hedron’s Betty brings the calming wisdom of the older generation that glues everything together, giving the film, and Jillian’s life, perspective. Hedron is effortless grace.
I find it hard to believe that this is writer Jim Beggarly’s first feature screenplay that made it to film fruition. Clever, intelligent story and messaging with well crafted characters, some of which appear for one specific purpose while others surrounding Weixler’s Jillian, like Hedron, Eisenberg and Ritter, are textured and tapestried with emotion with each relationship creating an aspect of Jillian so that by film’s end we meet a whole person but as a fresh blank canvas ready to start a new chapter or “life” (in relation back to Hedron’s Betty and her monologue about many lives within one lifetime).
Wonderfully executed and written are the quirky customers from all walks of life whom Jillian encounters during her day of FREE SAMPLES. One such character, Mr. Hightower, is played to his antagonistic hilt by Matt Walsh who aptly notes, “I ended up playing a jerk! I didn’t know I was necessarily going to be a jerk!” As with Jillian’s other customers during the day, Walsh’s Hightower helps to “put her in her place” and allow Jillian, and Weixler’s performance of her, to come off not totally bitchy but rather, more bitter. “She’s not the Alpha when I’m around.”
FREE SAMPLES belies that this is Jay Gammill’s first feature. His background in editing bodes well for him as his pacing is effortless, his imaging clean, simple, unfettered while his casting is an impeccable meld of talent and performance style.
Bringing cinematographer Reed Morano on the team was brilliance on the part of Gammill and his producing team, which includes noted indie producer Eban Kostbar. Moreno has a classic eye for lightness that, even in films like Frozen River, serves as a counter-balance to darker thematic elements. As we saw with Little Birds” and The Magic of Belle Isle, Moreno knows how to use daylight, sun, blue sky and clouds to his best advantage when creating a tonal bandwidth and here it just buoys the playful lightness of Weixler’s sarcasm.
As aptly described by Matt Walsh, thanks to Beggarly’s script and Gammill’s direction, “You’re dialing in to a funny, entertaining indie movie that speaks to the culture you care about. I think it’s a ‘young’ movie. . .and I think it’s about the early stages of coming of age. You go through these meteoric choices and they’re radical and then you come back to the ground.”
You gotta sample FREE SAMPLES! It’s delicious, quirky goodness.
Directed by Jay Gammill
Written by James Beggarly
Cast: Jess Weixler, Jason Ritter, Jesse Eisenberg, Halley Feiffer, Tippi Hedron
