Drool

A spoiler light review of Drool should begin with tone, because Nancy Kissam understands exactly how this comedy ought to feel. Drool gains early credibility from Laura Harring, whose presence is balanced by the different rhythm of Jill Marie Jones. The foundation of Drool can be stated simply: An abused wife's plan to escape her husband goes awry when she accidentally kills him, causing her to split on a cross country drive with her best friend and his corpse in tow. Within its 1h 25m running time, Drool reveals both the benefits and the limits of that disciplined approach.

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Laura Harring gives Drool its most dependable performance, finding a clear emotional intention beneath the plot. Opposite Laura Harring, Jill Marie Jones brings Drool a contrasting pace that prevents the central relationship from feeling flat. Oded Fehr widens the ensemble of Drool through reactions that suggest a life beyond the immediate scene. Nancy Kissam serves the cast of Drool best when a look or pause is allowed to finish before the story moves on.

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At story level, Drool turns the central character and an important relationship into the source of its main tension. The role played by Laura Harring becomes the viewer's route through Drool, especially when a difficult choice begins to alter the situation. Nancy Kissam gives Drool momentum by allowing choices to create consequences instead of treating each scene as isolated information. Even when the wider conflict pushes the plot toward familiar ground, Drool remains attentive to what that pressure means for its characters.

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The central idea running through Drool concerns embarrassment, status and the gap between confidence and reality. Laura Harring gives that idea a human scale, allowing Drool to remain accessible even when its world becomes larger. By returning to a difficult choice, Drool turns theme into a source of pressure rather than a message waiting to be delivered. The handling by Nancy Kissam lets Drool leave a little interpretive room, which gives its better scenes an afterlife.

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Nancy Kissam shapes Drool with an approach that feels alive in individual scenes and uncertain between them. The best directed passages in Drool establish an objective, let the characters respond and then allow the pressure to change naturally. The cast and craft keep the experience watchable in Drool, particularly when Nancy Kissam resists the urge to underline an already clear emotion. My main reservation about Drool is that too many scenes explain effects the actors have already suggested, a limitation that interrupts rather than defines the experience.

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The craft of Drool is defined by comic timing built around character, supported by comic timing built around character rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Upload Films gives Drool a production framework in which well judged reactions can remain connected to story. Made from a United States production context, Drool uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of Drool works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.

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The lasting judgement on Drool is an uneven film with enough personality to remain interesting for comedy fans who respond to personality and timing. Drool earns that response through the focus of Laura Harring, the contribution of comic timing built around character and the direction of Nancy Kissam. It remains true that too many scenes explain effects the actors have already suggested during Drool, which keeps enthusiasm measured. Still, Drool understands the experience it wants to create and communicates that intention with recognisable personality.