Leslye Headland — the Staples High School Class of 1999 playwright, screenwriter and director best known for the play and film “Bachelorette” — has just written and directed a new film.
Leslye Headland
“Sleeping With Other People” opened Friday in Los Angeles. I was looking for a way to describe it — Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis play platonic and relationship-averse New Yorkers — but I can’t beat The Daily Beast: “a thoroughly millennial romantic-comedy billed as ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ for assholes.”
The Daily Beast continues:
(Headland) followed up her acclaimed 2013 raunchy, warts-and-all ladybro comedy ‘Bachelorette’ with a raunchy, warts-and-all spin on a once-bountiful genre the studios have long forgotten how to make: The rom-com….
Consider it a real-talk rom-com for the self-obsessed, self-destructive Tinder generation — even though nary a dating app is to be found in the film. These characters have enough dating drama to deal with without having to swipe left and right and sext strangers.
Meannwhile, the Los Angeles Times says:
Leslye Headland wears her commitment to filmmaking on her sleeve — or at least on her forearms. One is tattooed with the problem-solving aphorism “What would Lubitsch do?” while the other has a quote from the endearing ’80s artifact “War Games.”
That mix of classical style with a contemporary twist, knowing when to take things seriously, when to laugh and a boldness to make it all one’s own, makes for a good summation of the mind-set of the writer-director …. Headland’s work bubbles with the energy of right now.
(Hat tip: Roy Fuchs)
