Flannel Pajamas

Brought together on a blind date set up by their mutual dermatologist, a New York City couple embarks on a whirlwind romance. Nicole, a Catholic girl from Montana, comes from a large family with a history of alcoholism and abuse. Unable to hold down a job and with apparent abandonment issues, she is clearly seeking someone to take care of her. Luckily, Stuart is both successful and generous. Handsome and gregarious at first glance, Stuart also turns out to be skillfully manipulative and highly jealous. Following the couple from first date to marital crisis, the film relies heavily on dialogue to depict the sheer weight of the emotional baggage brought into a single marriage. Dealing with weighty issues from familial suicide to pregnancy, FLANNEL PAJAMAS handles love and neurosis with equal time, filling the screen with moments both tender and gauche. Director Jeff Lipsky's second film is a probing examination of the choices and consequences that make and break even the most in-love and well intentioned of couples. -J.B.H.