Ceremony
A perpetual adolescent stumbling through his twenties with inflated self-confidence, Sam (Michael Angarano) clings to the naive notions of love and romance that he immortalizes in a series of unpublished children’s books.
With his sensitive, sycophantic best friend Marshall (Reece Thompson) in tow, he heads to the Hamptons to make a last-ditch effort to woo the object of his infatuation.
Thirty-something publisher Zoe (Uma Thurman) is about to marry Whit (Lee Pace), a self-important documentary filmmaker who’s an outrageous cross between Jacques Costeau and 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin.
Sam refuses to accept that anyone else could be the love of Zoe’s life and, dressed to the nines in a crumpled burgundy suit, crashes Zoe and Whit’s wedding reception, determined to prove his point.
Like its lead character, Ceremony is dressed for laughs, clothed in all the finery common to romantic comedies: geeky best friends crashing a party in search of revelatory adventure; an egotistical buffoon as the lead character’s romantic competition; a younger sibling (Paper Heart’s Jake M. Johnson - heartfelt and hilarious in every scene) who’s satisfied being a loser since the role of overachiever has already been taken; and of course, a lovelorn lad who clings to his romantic delusions until they blow up in his face.
Jane Schoettle - Toronto Internantional Film Festival
Starring: Michael Angarano, Jesse Eisenberg, Uma Thurman, Rebecca Mader