Pretty Problems

If you were given an opportunity to spend a weekend with those who live in the lap of luxury, how would it go? And how would it compare to your life? Well, for Lindsay (Britt Rentschler) and Jack (Michael Tennant), they’re about to find out! Written by Britt Rentschler, Michael Tennant and Charlotte Ubben and directed by Kestrin Pantera, Pretty Problems takes a middle-class couple at the crossroads of their marriage and foists them into a glimpse of the fabulous life of the super-wealthy for the weekend…only for them to find that problems exist no matter how much you have in the bank.  

Lindsay and Jack are considered the average couple or would be if their relationship wasn’t riddled with issues. As Jack is now a door-to-door salesman (after being disbarred) and Lindsay works a dead-end boutique job, the fire in Lindsay and Jack’s marriage resembles a dying ember. Enter Cat Flax (J.J. Nolan) who meets Lindsay upon entering the boutique while she is working and they become immediate besties.  Impressed by Cat’s vivacious personality and can-do attitude, Lindsay is quickly swept in by the invite to join Cat, her husband Matt (Graham Outerbridge) and their booze-happy couple friends Kerry (Alex Klein) and Carrie (Charlotte Ubben) for a weekend of fun and relaxation the wealthy way. While Lindsay is immediately taken in by all the glitz and glamour and Cat’s offer to help her start up a business in fashion, Jack tries to maintain awareness and keep Lindsay’s expectations rooted rather than in the fantasy that Cat has conjured up. When the weekend eventually blows up in their face, both Lindsay and Jack are forced to face themselves and decide whether their relationship is worth more than a weekend of luxury.  

Pretty Problems is a great lesson in how issues exist no matter how wealthy or poor you are. Rentschler and Tennant play Lindsay and Jack’s mannerisms off one another as though they are married in real life. When Lindsay buys into Cat’s grandiose ideas, Jack is learning from Cat’s husband Matt that Cat is the quintessential flighty rich wife with a drinking problem. And even though Lindsay and Jack continue to have their own set of issues that create massive rifts between them during the movie, Jack is the doting husband that has Lindsay’s best interests at heart while he tries to balance his own insecurities and problems from losing his career.  But even as Lindsay begins to take on a few of Cat’s sufferable qualities as her own, Jack continues to try and remain the loving, practical husband. Even through the endless drinking or themed murder mystery dinner party and even the run-in with Lindsay’s ex Dan (Clayton Froning) as the house bartender, Jack sucks it up and really gives it his all to participate in the fun that he is not having.  

While Lindsay and Cat’s budding friendship is a fun one to watch, I personally loved Jack and Matt’s interactions the most. Evident that Cat’s never-ending lack of funds for her new business and philanthropic ideas come from her husband, Matt understands Jack’s reluctance and tries to warn him that Cat is an “experience hoarder” and will eventually discard Lindsay when she finds something new…all while keeping the fun alive. Outerbridge plays Matt as a man who loves his wife and continues to indulge her every whim but finds that he can truly be honest with Jack, and possibly only Jack when it comes to the real Cat Flax. But even Matt will be able to discard Jack by the end of the weekend, even though the way that they relate to one another would have me interested in a Pretty Problems 2 to see them attempt a friendship.  

We all have problems, no matter our status in life. But appreciation for what we do have is key. Life is more than money and a guru who spouts 90’s pop lyrics during meditation. Life is hard, but if love and the desire to work as a team is there…that is all you need. And maybe some wacky friends with matching names and a penchant for the party life.