‘In The Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand’ VOD Review
Stars: Makis Papadimitriou, Michalis Sarantis, Anna Kalaitzidou, Danis Katranidis, Ivonni Maltezou, Alexandros Logothetis, Nikos Hatzopoulos, Elias Kounelas, Mary Mina | Written by Dimitris Bavellas, Katerina Kleitsioti | Directed by Dimitris Bavellas
I can’t say I have seen many (if any?!) Greek movies and I sadly couldn’t even name you one. So it seems In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand will be the first Greek movie ever for me.
It’s in the title but this is a slightly strange movie as we see two best friends go in search of a nineties porn star they are both a little obsessed with. It sounds a bit unbelievable (although people have done stranger things) but it is made clear that neither of the friends are in a great place in their lives. Not a lot is going, they don’t have jobs they love, they don’t seem to have other friends and a road trip to find a porn star seems like a needed escape from reality.
The road trip turns into some kind of treasure hunt when the friends gain a ‘treasure’ map that looks like something The Goonies would find. And this kind of works in a zany comedy way but this does lead me to my biggest problem with the movie. I didn’t find it anywhere near funny enough for a comedy. It does have its moments but I was never laughing out loud and I thought it was at its best when it was more serious. When it concentrated on the friendship between the two main characters and their situation. The closing moments are surprisingly sweet and I think if the filmmakers had gone in that direction more and less with the attempted laughs, then I probably would have enjoyed it more.
While not clichéd, you will find the movie familiar if you’ve seen any kind of oddball road trip movie. There are no real surprises. Although we almost get a gothic horror parody when they visit a mansion owned by an old lady with a bride of Frankenstein haircut and the movie suddenly changes to black and white. I liked this attempt at changing things a little and although what happens remains the same comedy set-up, it felt a little bit more creative.
The two leads, Makis Papadimitriou (as Antonis) and Michalis Sarantis (as Christos) are undoubtedly a highlight. They show good chemistry together and it is easy to believe they have been best friends for a long time. The acting and their interactions feel very natural and viewers will relate to at least one of them and almost definitely no somebody like the other. As I said, this friendship is key to everything that is good in the movie so it was key that they were cast right and the filmmakers got this right.
The most disappointing thing with In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand is that without the comedy it often just plods along and isn’t anywhere near interesting enough. The two leads will keep you watching and it does at least have a satisfactory ending but don’t go in expecting too many laughs.
In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand will be available on Digital Download from 31st January
