Directed by David Gordon Green, All the Real Girls is a slice of life romantic drama with a noble goal in mind: Portraying a more realistic, cliche-free and unglamorous love story. Set in a small North Carolina mill town,  the film depicts the highs and lows of a relationship between Paul (Paul Schneider) and Noel (Zooey Deschanel). Paul is a womanizing young man with a reputation for having sex with 26 different girls in town. His best friend Tip (Shea Wigham) is none too happy when he learns that Paul and his younger sister Noel have started dating. To Paul though, Noel is unlike any girl he has been with before and he may have just fallen in love for the first time in his life.

Unlike most Hollywood romance, this movie is character driven. Almost no external events are dropped out of nowhere to further the (nearly nonexistent) plot. The movie also doesn’t cater to the “normal” expectations audiences may have for an American romance. The slightly out-of-shape Paul Schneider is probably one of the least likely romantic lead in years and it doesn’t get any less glamorous than a dormant tiny mill town in the middle of the Appalachians. I liked that the movie explored the fact that normal people aren’t always those highly articulate creatures who can formulate their thoughts clearly and on the drop of a hat. Paul and Noel try to slowly further their fragile relationship without rocking the boat but they have difficulty communicating with each other. Noel is a virgin and sexually curious while Paul doesn’t want to rush it and have sex with her because she is not the same to him as the 26 others he shagged previously. Toward the end, Noel says that “no one said we had to be perfect” and it rings true to life. At the beginning of a relationship, especially first love, it’s easy to start idealizing the other person and this only makes it more difficult for him/her to fulfill those expectations. Green went for a more truthful denouement, pointing to the fact that two people although obviously very much in love with each other still may not end up together.

Unfortunately, there is several significant flaws that prevent this movie from truly sweeping the viewer off his feet. The characters are uninteresting and unremarkable. Trying to create real and honest characters doesn’t mean they have to be bland and boring. Their dialogue is uneven, at times touching and most of the time, meaningless mumbling that doesn’t add anything to our understanding. The actors fail to convey any type of background about their character without the information actually having to be dropped on the viewer’s lap. This is a major issue in a slower paced movie where not much is happening on screen. The entire plotline about Tip’s disapproval of Paul dating his sister suddenly disappeared all of a sudden without any warning which is a bit hard to believe in such a tiny town.  Finally, the twist toward the ending feels too convenient and came out of nowhere. Overall, this movie strives for authenticity but merely achieves honesty.

Paul Schneider is miscast and gives an uneven and dull performance. I can now sort of see why he hasn’t had his “own” movie since. He is quite unconvincing as the town’s Casanova who has slept and then playfully dumped dozens of girls. Zooey Deschanel fares better and gives one of these performance that we now know she can do so well: the charming, free-spirited, and slightly awkward girlfriend role she has played countless times ever since. Some of their improvisations (it must have been right?) are really bland, awkward, and banal conversation that don’t further the movie in any way. The two have no apparent chemistry to speak off. In all, the two main characters are completely unremarkable and it feels at times like you are eavesdropping on the meaningless mumblings of the most boring couple in town.

The supporting cast is fairly solid and is mainly highlighted by the consistently excellent Patricia Clarkson who plays Paul’s mother. Shea Wingham, Danny McBride, and Maurice Compte play Paul’s group of friend but aren’t given much of anything to do except sound like three semi-mentally challenged hillbillies. Talk about stereotypes of the South!

The musical soundtrack by Michael Linnen complements the action on screen well while the photography by Tim Orr takes advantages of the stunning landscape to immerse the viewer in this small North Carolina town. I’ve read a few people comparing David Gordon Green to Terrence Malick because of the slow pacing and contemplative nature of this movie. Nothing against Green but this is like comparing some Billy Joe who plays an occasional pickup game at the local YMCA with Michael Jordan. Anyone can pickup a camera and take a few contemplative shots of a sunset or a tree and insert them into their movie. That doesn’t make that person Terrence Malick.

Given my recent rant on the state of romantic movies, I really wanted to love this movie but I kept waiting for something to click. Instead I ended up merely liking it…

An uneven but honest-looking love story with a noble goal in mind. Unfortunately, Green fails to garner enough dramatic interest to make this a truly powerful and authentic movie.

B-

Notes: Rated R for language and some sexuality. 108 minutes.