‘Splitsville’ Review

‘Splitsville’ is designed to make you uncomfortable, both with its cringeworthy comedy and its unorthodox relationship dynamics. The film, the latest venture from Michael Angelo Covino, plays out like a non-monogamous ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’, providing original humor and views on healthy relationships even as it struggles to maintain its anti-romantic comedy tone throughout.

The film opens with married couple Carey and Ashley (Kyle Marvin and Adria Arjona) on a road trip to a friend’s beach house. In a charming introduction, the couple sings along, poorly, to the Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks collaboration ‘Whenever I Call You Friend’. It’s the kind of moment that reveals a couple with a long history, comfortable being silly with one another as what can be embarrassing with others is a strength in their relationship. As the drive continues it becomes clear that despite their shared history, and their genuine love for one another, their respective ambitions, dreams, and happiness are diverging. After a particularly jarring experience, Ashley asks for a divorce, fessing up that she has been unfaithful as she has sought to bring excitement back into her life.

Devastated, Carey gets out of the car and runs away, all the way to his friend’s beach house where we meet his childhood best friend Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and his wife Julie (Dakota Johnson). As they commiserate with Carey over his pending divorce, they reveal that they have an open marriage. Their dynamic jostles Carey’s stagnant views of happiness, and instigates the central plot of the film as Carey explores the benefits, the risks, and the emotional messiness of non-monogamy.

Much of the comedy comes from the fish-out-of-water relationship dynamics that are the result of clinically monogamous characters, such as Carey, diving haltingly into the world of non-monogamy. In Carey’s desire to keep a relationship with Ashley, he proposes they update their arrangement: he sleeps on the couch, with her free to use the bedroom for whatever and whoever she wants. Some of the best parts of the movie are Carey’s blossoming friendships with Ashley’s assembly line of partners and witnessing Ashley’s chameleonic personality catered to her lover du jour. The bond between Ashley’s jilted lovers is built through heartbreak, but they all have genuine love and support for one another.

The cast is game to play up the absurdity of the ever-changing romances, with Adria Arjona as the standout in her willingness to be a self-serious punchline as well as her physical dedication in scenes both sexual and silly, such as her singing and dancing along to ‘The Fray’. Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin are longterm filmmaking partners, and their chemistry comes through in the quiet moments but also in the big, slapstick fight scenes that result from their divergent understanding of non-monogamy.

Dakota Johnson, unfortunately, seems to be left out of the fun. Her character, and her entire subplot involving a marriage on the brink, a rebellious young son, and financial challenges, feels ripped from a much more serious movie. Sustaining the film’s delicate unromantic comedy tone would be difficult no matter what, but Dakota Johnson and Michael Angelo Covino’s relationship certainly shatters the equilibrium, leaving comedy fully aside in favor of drama, making the film feel disjointed and uneven.

As the relationships start to crystallize more in the second half, the film itself begins to drag. And despite grounding much of the story in non-monogamy, the film opts for a more regressive view on relationship dynamics, with characters reaching a “happy ending” only when they are back in monogamous relationships. By choosing to end the film in such a way, it re-contextualizes much of the humor, such that rather than making the monogamists the source of humor, it seems the non-monogamist community is the punch line; non-monogamy is all good and fun, but ultimately it’s a distraction that can be discarded as soon as you find the right one.

Ultimately, ‘Splitsville’ is a quirky and fun romantic comedy, with legitimately interesting observations on long term relationship dynamics – the small moments that show how a long, shared history can both elevate a romance and drive you absolutely crazy. Its modern view on dating, taking into account the emotional, spiritual, and physical triumvirate that composes any partnership, is unique and engaging, even if the overall film is almost as messy as its characters’ love lives.

Splitsville
Rated R for language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity.
Running Time: 1 hour and 44 minutes

Director Michael Angelo Covino
Writers Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin
Stars Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Kyle Marvin, Michael Angelo Covino, Nicholas Braun, David Castañeda, O-T Fagbenle, Charlie Gillespie, Simon Webster
Rating R
Running Time 104 Minutes
Genres Comedy