"SPIN ME ROUND" // SXSW 2022
SPIN ME ROUND, the new film directed by Jeff Baena and co-written by Baena and Alison Brie, is a perfect example of how we may dream and romanticize lush, romantic novels but in real life, they are not often anything like that. Brie plays Amber, a manager at Tuscan Grove, an Olive Garden like chain restaurant that sells to the masses instead of offering any real authentic experience. She's the quiet and reserved type but is thrilled when she finds out that she's been chosen for a trip to Italy through her job. It's a training retreat that is only offered to the top managers. She's thrilled to add an authentic, Italian experience and to really enrich herself in becoming a better manager. She's also a sucker for such romantic novels and thinks that maybe, just maybe, she'll even fall in love.
The first truly odd thing is that their host guide makes them surrender their passports, saying that it's a normal thing to do and they'll get them back at the end. Odd, but Amber doesn't let that ruin her trip. She meets up with all the other managers chosen (including Molly Shannon and Zach Woods) and as they are driving up to a dream like building which they all think is the villa they are staying in, the realize instead they're staying in a budget like inn down the road. Not quite the all-expenses paid vacation so far. They attend cooking classes, dull but not horrible and it seems that Amber's romantic wishes have slipped away. That's when Nick (Alessandro Nivola), the head of the entire Tuscan Grove franchise, makes a surprise trip to see them. Immediately upon seeing Amber, he tells his assistant Kat (Aubrey Plaza) that she reminds him of someone from his past and sends Kat to scoop Amber up and whisk her away to a day away for just the two of them. The day is spent on Nick's yacht and her romantic novel seems to be coming into view after all.
However, things get weird almost immediately and who Nick and Kat actually are becomes a bigger mystery than anything Tuscan Grove is trying to teach them. SPIN ME ROUND is a mix of genres: it's a romantic getaway, mystery, comedy and a bit of weirdness at each corner. Much of it works, including Nivola's over the top ridiculous host and Zach Woods hilarious Tuscan Grove superfan. But by the end, it gets a bit silly and doesn't quite come together. Also, there are plot points left dangling, wondering if it was on purpose or cut somewhere along the line. It's a frothy, fun watch, just one that I wish would have dug a lot deeper.
GRADE: B
WRITTEN BY Jeff Baena, Alison Brie DIRECTED BY Jeff Baena STARRING Alison Brie, Alessandro Nivola, Aubrey Plaza, Molly Shannon, Zach Woods, Ayden Mayeri, Ben Sinclair, Tim Heidecker, Debby Ryan, Fred Armisen. SELECTED AS PART OF THE SXSW 2022 FILM FESTIVAL. FOR MORE INFO: SPIN ME ROUND