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'Me and You and Everyone We Know' endears audience with originality

By TERRY MORRIS
Dayton Daily News

You won't have to be an animal-rights activist to care about the carefree little goldfish in a plastic bag of water that was left on the roof of a car now zooming down the freeway.

You won't need to be a sucker for romance to give a sigh, realize your shoulders have eased involuntarily and feel almost as though you were the one being hugged and relaxing into it when Christine finally connects with Richard in a tender embrace while standing behind him.

IFC Films 'Me and You and Everyone We Know' A- Director: Miranda July Starring: Miranda July, John Hawkes, Miles Thompson, Brad Henke, Brandon Ratcliff Run time: 95 minutes Release date: June 17, 2005 Rating: R for disturbing sexual content involving children, and for language. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate "Me and You and Everyone We Know"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

You can expect discomfort when tiny, precocious, curly-haired Robby arranges to meet an intrigued chat-room fetishist in the park, or pretty schoolgirls Heather and Rebecca make their sexual initiation into a competition.

You'll probably be able to admit afterward that at least one or two incidents turned out to be nothing like what you feared or anticipated.

Me and You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July's funny, strange and endearing independent feature debut, is about the yearning for human connection, as revealed in often unexpected ways that elicit shared reactions. Her originality is as unforced as the deceptively childlike soundtrack by Michael Andrews.

On a basic level, this is a love story about a solo performance artist and eldercare driver and a newly separated shoe salesman with a burned and bandaged left hand and two young sons who don't say much to him.

Screenwriter and director July also plays Christine, the cute, kooky, gentle yet resilient pursuer, who doesn't know it at the time, but becomes captivated with Richard the moment he reveals a gleam of himself when he sells her a pair of pink shoes.

John Hawkes is rumpled and gawky Richard, who's still smarting after being ditched by his wife and isn't sure he wants to be pursued. He goes along with Christine's zany impromptu relationship fantasy while walking with her for a few blocks, but when she invites herself into his car, an anti-stalker reflex that may not be inappropriate takes over. If you are a sucker for romance, fear not. She's irresistible. And that hug is worth waiting for.

We can't overlook the kids. From John's boys Peter (Miles Thompson) and Robby (Brandon Ratcliff) to Heather (Natasha Slayton) and Rebecca (Najarra Townsend), to probably about 11-year-old Sylvie (Carlie Westerman), who confides in Peter about her hope chest and dowry, they're important to the story.

This isn't a film for their age groups, but their instinctive attempts to weave a passage into the uncertain future serve as touchstones for those who have crossed the early shoals only to learn there are always others just ahead.