'The Freebie' review

Katie Aselton and Dax Shepard (Credit: Phase 4 Films)

[“The Freebie” premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The following is an excerpt from Metromix’s coverage of the festival.]

An atypical relationship story starring Dax Shepard and Katie Aselton (also the writer-director) as a young married couple who have settled into a comfortable routine. So comfortable that they haven’t had sex for months and don’t even realize it, until a dinner party conversation forces them to confront the truth. In an effort to spice up their relationship, they mutually agree to allow each other a single one night stand with someone else, no questions asked. But can they follow through? Do they even want to?

Aselton delivers an insightful portrait of relationships with a terrific natural rhythm. It’s no surprise the movie is opening with a low commercial profile—it’s firmly in the low-tech improv-driven mumblecore genre—but it’s smart, focused and well acted enough to merit wider exposure.

Shepard and Aselton are great together, carrying the film as a couple so believable you feel like you’re spying on their private conversations. What’s more mysterious than someone else’s relationship? “The Freebie” offers you a look inside. It’s voyeurism without the sleaze.

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