The Experience of Watching "Love in Kilnerry"

Very low hanging fruit.

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Dear Moviegoers,

I once walked out of Taken 2. It’s difficult to get me to leave a theater, no matter the movie I’m watching, but sometimes, patience breaks and so does the mind. I stayed to finish Paranormal Activity 4 in IMAX but just couldn’t take The Hangover Part III. Death is easy, comedy is hard. Very hard.

And bad comedy? Harder to watch. 

Love in Kilnerry ought to be commended for the massive efforts of its Director and lead actor Daniel Keith, who turned a play into a film by raising funds himself, shooting teaser scenes himself, and completing production in a New Hampshire town that ultimately named a day after the film. It clearly meant a lot to many people, and indeed, that’s the one and only positive-feeling aspect that breached my cold heart while viewing it. Community made, community loved. 

The film, about a small town with an aging populace who learn of the EPA’s plan to clean their water supply with a chemical that’ll increase everyone’s sex drive, is… is just not my cup of tea, first and foremost. Last and most importantly, it’s an unfunny running drip from a faucet. The closest movie it reminded me of was Hope Springs, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep. There, a couple seeks small-town therapy to bring life back into their marriage. It’s simple, it’s kind of cute, and it features a scene of attempted oral sex in a movie theater between the two leads. As tastefully done as it was, it was something of another era, trying to be something for a new crowd. 

With Love in Kilnerry, there’s ok taste but too many awkward courtships and wannabe zany sexual encounters. It’s the oral sex in a movie theater sequence of Hope Springs, extended to two hours, and amped up a slight notch. Stretched as thin as a piece of paper, Love in Kilnerry tries way too hard to be humorous and goes way over its head to be sweet. Neither worked out. What is performed amounts to heavy theatrics and noisy antics, playing to the back of the room and up to the stage. But, louder doesn’t equal funnier. 

Or good.

I didn’t walk out on this one, as I was actually rooting it on. There are some smiles that can be imagined from behind the camera, but all I could muster was an elongated frown. Some swear words were shouted from this audience of one, admittedly, especially with the knowledge that none of those words would help at all. I mean, the film didn’t give me diabetes, so why was I so upset?

Because bad comedy is painful to watch, even when it’s tried in earnest. Love in Kilnerry might be the most earnest film I’ve seen this year, but that score only goes to the mailbox and back. And the mailbox is right next to the front door. 

At least it’s been commemorated with a day named after it. That goes further than my experience watching it.

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Love in Kilnerry is currently on a roadshow theatrical run.

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Sincerely Yours in Moviegoing,

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Note: Readers like you support this publication. If you can, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, or feel free to leave a tip. Many thanks :)