First Date (2021): Fresh

It’s nice to see that the spirit of independent film continues to thrive and to attract young filmmakers – people who want to create something on their own, to skip the bureaucracy of the big corporate movie monoliths and just do it. In theory, such impulses will lead to a cinema that is fresh and new.  Such is the case with filmmakers Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp, whose first feature film, premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and is being released theatrically today, July 2.  Crosby and Knapp co-wrote, co-directed and coproduced the picture, and Crosby is the cinematographer as well. It’s called First Date, and it is an engaging and quite charming debut.   

First Date is not “new” so much, but it certainly feels very fresh – which is what Crosby and Knapp were aiming for. The folks they really admired and related to were the young filmmakers of the late 1980s and early 1990s, like Robert Rodriguez [El Mariachi (1992)], Kevin Smith [Clerks (1994)], Joel and Ethan Coen [Blood Simple  (1984), Raising Arizona (1987)], and of course Quentin Tarantino [Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994)].  Here, I’ll let them speak for themselves: 

"We’d reminisce about a bygone, yet recent time – when these indie rebels, and many others, started shooting their breakout films, and you felt that electricity on the screen. You know? ”Why don't they make them like this anymore?” we wondered. We wanted to make an independent flick, the kind that had a certain kinship to many of our favorites … but that still felt exciting and fresh. Something with youthful energy, but also with a bite to it. Something that could mix comedy, suspense, romance and violence while feeling like a natural blend. Kind of like mixing all the different sodas at the soda fountain. You're not supposed to do it but damn, it's a sugar rush. Something that would allow us to play with special effects and spotlight a unique ensemble cast. And also something that we would have seen when we were just getting into filmmaking and been stoked about."

So, that’s what they did. First Date is about a couple of high school kids who inadvertently get mixed up with some nefarious drug smugglers, shady cops, and other sleazy types all while trying to negotiate the awkwardness of their first date. The two protagonists are adorable, and pretty much all of the other characters are, well, characters – quirky, irascible, thick-sculled, scary and/or goofy. There are mix-ups galore, car chases, bags of contraband, people stuffed in vehicle trunks, and a rousing, bodacious twenty-minute climax that’s thrilling, dramatically fraught and revealing.

The movie opens with a brief, tension filled sequence depicting a gangland hit-job – setting a tone of underlying menace; then flips to a sun-splashed suburbia and a couple of young guys on their bicycles. One of these is Mike (Tyrone Brown), a shy, dreamy teen with a crush on a seemingly out-of-his-league girl classmate. This is Kelsey (Shelby Duclos), whom we first meet as the boys ride past her house, where she’s working out at a punching bag in her garage. Kelsey is cool, but she’s complicated and deeper than the typical love interest in bildungsroman flicks. Mike’s cocky companion, Brett (Josh Fesler), urges Mike to call Kelsey, even dialing her number and handing Mike the phone. Despite Mike’s awkwardness, she suggests that they hang out together that evening.  And thus we have our movie title. 

But there’s a typical teen problem: Mike doesn’t have a car, and his parents are out of town, so he can’t borrow theirs. But this is important, so Mike checks the classifieds and contacts a guy, Dennis,who has advertised a used car that might fit his needs and budget. Dennis (Scott Noble) turns out to be a sleazebag who talks naïve Mike into buying an old beater – a ’65 Chrysler – which, as it turns out, is the deus ex machina that fuels the rest of the action. It introduces us to an amusing duo of comedically sinister cops: Sgt. Davis (Nicole Berry) the smart one, and Deputy Duchovny (Samuel Adomola) the idiot one; a gang of drug smugglers, among them a bickering couple (Angela Barber and Dave Reimer) and their much brighter and more menacing boss, known as The Captain (Jesse Janzen).

Though largely a bunch of unknowns, the ensemble is very capable. Of the supporting group, Janzen and Reimer are especially strong. Overall, though, the  supporting players’ role is to provide tension on the one hand and comic relief on the other. The two leads must carry the story and hold our interest. Duclos and Brown are both very watchable and do these things very well, even though First Date is the first starring role for each of them (and, in fact it’s Brown’s first speaking role in a film). Duclos is neither sylph-like nor a supermodel, but she is attractive and works beautifully as Kelsey, the kick-ass girl-next-door. Brown seems made for the part of the self-conscious Mike - a fact acknowledged by co-director Manuel Crosby, who recounts: 

“He sent in his audition video, and I open it up and he's like, ‘Hi, my name's Tyson Brown. I'm sorry if I mess this up. I've never done an audition before; I’m new at this. I'm just going to see how it goes.’ And I was laughing so hard at that. That's when I knew he was the character before he even said a line of dialogue."

This is a low budget film that does not look like a low budget film. The cinematography, sound, editing and acting are all very professional. The filmmakers both hail from the small town of Valley Springs, California in the Sierra foothills, which is where the film was shot. Most of the cast is local to that area and the nearby Sacramento Valley, as well. Maybe that’s why they all seem so natural together.

First Date is neither the funniest, the most exciting, nor even the most romantic movie of the year. But it is very watchable and  entertaining. It has its own special magic. I quite enjoyed it, even though I am far, far removed from my high school days. Those actually IN high school and younger adults in their twenties and thirties – i.e., contemporaries of the filmmakers – may like it even more.  I expect we’ll be seeing more in coming years from these filmmakers and from stars Brown and Duclos as well. 

103 minutes

Grade: B+         [marked on a slight curve - for encouragement]

Now showing in select theaters nationwide, including Berkeley, Sacramento, Phoenix, Carson City, New York, Fort Worth, Baltimore and elsewhere. 

And for rent on Amazon, AppleTV, GooglePlay and many other streaming services.