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Inspired by a story his mother told him about his father destroying his wedding ring with pliers to relieve a headache, director and writer David Au’s Eat with Me is a tribute to his mother and explores the awkwardness of relationships and communication when people can’t express their emotions. A repressed Emma (Sharon Omi) flees from her stale marriage and gatecrashes her son Elliot’s (Teddy Chen Culver) life in the city. Still unable to process her son’s sexuality and lifestyle, Emma and Elliot learn to work through their personal issues and reconnect with each other through food.
Partly funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, Eat with Me is Au’s first feature length film which follows on from his 2003 short film Fresh Like Strawberries. While enjoyable and funny in parts, the film can’t shake off its “amateur” label. Modest but well-shot, paired with a bright soundtrack and a talented cast, Eat with Me has the potential to become poignant but its hesitation to take production risks leaves it overcooked. It’s the small details that prevent the film from oozing with flavour. Some shots linger a fraction too long, watering down what would have been a powerful end to a scene. Other times, the film doesn’t know how to transition to a new scene without a fade to black, adding to the film’s amateurish vibe.
As a film so heavily reliant on food to melt away the awkwardness, Eat with Me doesn’t have enough shots of food. It’s a shame because cinematographer Amanda Treyz’s effort to capture the beauty of the generous dishes and colourful ingredients is what makes the film poke out from its amateur label. From Emma’s delicate folding of the dumplings to Elliot layering his raspberry tart with lashings of chocolate ganache, Treyz makes us hungry with her colourful shots. Even the sizzling of the pan and bubbling of pots cooking dumplings adds depth to Treyz’s cinematography.
What really lets down the film is the cliched dialogue. Au, trained as an editor, has admitted in interviews he is not a writer. This sadly seeps through during what is supposed to be a heartfelt scene between Emma and Elliot, where she tries her best to explain she just wants her son to be happy. Omi and Culver, who have worked with Au on several of his previous projects, do their best with the the stilted dialogue, but their delivery misses the mark. Culver’s performance at times lacks conviction and feels unnecessarily restrained. Instead of a moving reconciliation between mother and son, the cliched dialogue makes the scene wilt. However, Au should be praised for creating Maureen, Elliot’s neighbour who Emma befriends. Nicole Sullivan, known for MADtv, brings a naturalness to the eccentric but warm Maureen. Omi and Sullivan have a great rapport on-screen and it is a delight to watch Maureen accidentally give Emma ecstasy instead of aspirin.
Despite its flaws, Eat with Me has won awards at several film festivals in the US. With additional nurturing and guidance from a script editor, Au has great potential to turn his poignant stories into great films. What saves the film are the endearing characters. They aren’t perfect, but they’re just trying to be better people, which is something everyone can relate to.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Eat with Me
Director: David Au
USA, 2013, 100 mins
Melbourne Queer Film Festival
March 19 – 30
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