**/****
starring Mark Ruffalo, Kathleen Robertson, Maya Stange, Petra Wright
written and directed by Austin Chick
by Walter Chaw The problem with Austin Chick's hyphenate debut XX/XY is that despite an intervening decade in the storyline, the characters enjoy no appreciable evolution. It's possible the film is meant to be about a trio of arrested, knee-jerk reactionaries; it's also possible the film is about how these people are really bad for each other. But the aggregate effect is that XX/XY is devoid of much real tension and actual character development. Sam (Maya Stange) and Thea (Kathleen Robertson) are roommates who meet Coles (Mark Ruffalo) one drunken college night and experiment with a three-way before breaking off into a pair (Sam and Coles) and a dangling third (Maya). Bad carnal decisions and understandable immaturity lead to a rift that lasts ten years, after which Sam and Coles have a chance encounter and start the same cycle all over again, only with more at stake and the immaturity appreciably less understandable. Less a plot curve than a plot flatline, XX/XY is peppered with smart moments and wonderful performances but also an over-reliance on the gravid moment and a general degree of aimlessness that grates. The soundtrack is well-utilized, the sets and the cinematography professional–the only thing really missing from Chick's promising debut is a destination or, failing that, an ambiguity that gives fruitful pause.
