Easier with Practice: Critic Reviews

Easier With Practice is an intimate drama about a fledgling author with a sensitive soul.

The film is a slow-burner: a study in loneliness and alienation, whose unexpected ending and ambiguous aftermath require us to reassess all that has gone before.

The weird turns that Davy's life takes always feel emotionally honest, thanks in no small measure to Geraghty's achingly true performance.

Geraghty relies too heavily on facial expressions and mannerisms, but those who appreciate visible effort may be seduced.

Amusingly predicated on the romantic possibilities of phone sex, Easier With Practice pushes past its titillating premise to become a quietly provocative love story about emotionally stunted manhood and the risks some guys will take to connect.

Geraghty's wounded-pup appeal keeps the movie alive even as it heads for a dreary, even-more-implausible-than-the-setup third act. Writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez, though, usually finds the right tone and appears to have a promising future.

An unexpectedly stirring first feature by Kyle Patrick Alvarez about the challenges of making human connections in the weird and wired 21st century.

Easier With Practice reveals the sense of loneliness and isolation that permeates modern life and the lure of fantasy in filling its emptiness.

What could have been a film that exploits a potentially salacious premise for artificially comedic or edgy effect, feels instead like an honest and truthful dissection of the sometimes-strange way modern relationships can work.

Based on a men's mag article, Kyle Patrick Alvarez's debut feature is an honest, funny-sad portrayal of emotional dysfunction.

It is a cool, funny, mischievous movie, with a stand-out, even break-out, performance from Geraghty...

Kyle Patrick Alvarez's movie stands out as one the year's as-yet-undiscovered gems.

An engaging and moving tale.

There's no doubting Alvarez's promise, as he weaves familiar indie elements into a film that is likeable, insightful and compelling.

What might sound like the set-up for a particularly bawdy Judd Apatow comedy is actually a deceptively sweet tale of twenty-first century alienation.

Excellent American indie that tugs hard on the heartstrings.

The genre of road-trip-leading-to-self-discovery now has another masterpiece in its cinematic vault.

If you give Geraghty some time, and you give Alvarez some time, you can see that they're getting at something by letting it play out.

Do not have a relationship over the phone unless you know the person at the other end. You never do

For any film, let alone a debut, to address difficult subjects with this much insight, humor, and humanity is almost miraculous.

Davy's experience never plays out precisely as you would expect and I, for one, guessed wrong just about every time right up to the poignant, perfectly-acted finale that does provide some closure while opening up a whole new set of life questions.

Easier With Practice is such an assured, solid and just plain good film, it's going to be a tough act to follow.

Endearing and wise with a captivating and emotionally raw, brave and honest performance by Brian Geraghty. It's one of the most refreshing, heartfelt and unforgettable American films of the year.

Love stories don't come much squirmier than this one, and Alvarez plays it with honesty, insight, and the awkwardness inherent in this blindest of blind dates.

Just because a story is true doesn't mean it's interesting.