SCREENSHOTS: 'Mutual Appreciation'

Director Darren S. Aronofsky ’91 may have grabbed all the attention in 2006 with his overblown “The Fountain” and its time-traveling spaceman conquistador M.D. hero, but it’s another alum, Andrew Bujalski ’98, that really got down to the heart of the Harvard experience. The hyper-indie characters in “Mutual Appreciation” are nice enough, but they are unable to relate to each other and will never have sex—which makes this an ideal movie to get drunk to. Because let’s face it—this is a funny movie, but if you’re like me you’re going to identify with this film so hard that you’ll want some alcohol to blame the sobbing on. So crack open a bottle of your favorite local micro-brew and enjoy.



1. Drink every time someone is dressed in moody vintage clothing.



2. Drink that one time people in the movie drink bottles of Brooklyn beer. Because it’s like the movie is set in Brooklyn so even though Bujalski’s writing is all understated and nobody never actually says “Brooklyn,” it’s a way to remind you where it is, right?! DAMN, this Bujalski guy IS smart enough for Harvard.



3. Drink every time there is a failure of communication. This is a lot of drinks. Keep drinking. Your social life is exactly like this.



4. For teetotalers: Drink every time there is a black person.



5. Chug beer for the entire duration of the scene where Bujalski’s character Lawrence plays the leering TF from awkward hell.



6. Drink one shot for every dollar you think was spent on making this film. You will not be very drunk as a result of doing this.



7. Even better, drink one shot for every dollar that got into the greasy hands of the money-grubbing Hollywood studio machine as a result of the making of this film. THAT’S ZERO DOLLARS, BITCHES! YEAH!



8. Drink when Lawrence says, “But you’re gonna fucking drink the absinthe, man.” Brooklyn is sooo cool.

—Richard S. Beck