Movie Recommendation: ‘Come As You Are’

Interviews, background, and reflections on the hugely entertaining independent feature film which opens this weekend.

In the past, I have championed small independent movies I felt deserved whatever little boost my blog could give them including interviews with Destin Daniel Cretton for his movie Short Term 12, Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay for the movie they wrote The Invitation, and Rob Meyer and Luke Matheny for their movie A Birder’s Guide to Everything.

This week, I am featuring a series of interviews with some of the filmmakers behind a wonderful indie comedy Come As You Are which opens this weekend.

Plot Summary: Three young men with disabilities hit the road with a jaded nurse driver to a brothel in Montreal catering to people with special needs. Remake of the acclaimed Belgian film Hasta La Vista.

Go Into The Story interview: Erik Linthorst (screenwriter)

Erik: The mandate I was given was…because they had shopped the U.S. remake rights around to everybody in town, and they got turned down. Everybody said, “Well, in order for this to work in the US, it has to be laugh out loud funny. It has to be like Little Miss Sunshine. I don’t know how you do that with disability.” They came to me and they were like, “How do we make this really funny without offending people?” I said, “Oh, no problem.” To me, the offensive notion is that you can’t have a comedy with characters with disability. Why? You’re so worried about what you’re going to say about this population, that you can’t say anything? It just seemed like an absurd notion.

Go Into The Story Interview: Rich Wong (director)

Rich: Really, it’s not about sex at all… It’s about the human need for connection. I think the human need for connection started off as this need for sex, connection that way. The real connection they get is from each other. That’s a universal message.

Go Into The Story interview: Grant Rosenmeyer (actor-producer)

Grant: Nobody in Hollywood, nobody in the industry wanted to make this movie. It had been everywhere. It had been to over a hundred production companies. We heard “no” from all of them. Kelly [Waller] and the Chicago Media Angels, they were the only people who put their hands up and said, “Yes, we believe in this story. We believe in the value. We believe in the tone that you guys are going for. We believe that not just America, but this is a story that the world will rally behind.” The Black List did come in. They were the only company in Hollywood, but even they were like, “How did we not know about this project?”

Go Into The Story interview: Asta Philpot (the inspiration for the movie)

Asta: We were at Mallorca Film Festival, and the film got shown there on the opening night. I got brought behind the screen on stage, ready to go out with the other guys, and we had a six‑minute standing ovation. When it was done, me and Grant [Rosenmeyer] went back out through the corridors to get out of the theater, and people were stopping us every second, saying, “You’ve changed our lives. You’ve changed the way we see our lives. We should all be more grateful for what we have in life.” We need to start creating transformational media that are actually going to make our fellow human beings start to feel good about not only their lives, but about themselves.

I asked one of the producers of the movie Kelly Waller (Chicago Media Angels) what attracted her outfit to provide financial support to Come As You Are, a project which had been turned down by 80 other production companies. Kelly said this:

“I was motivated to bring this story to Chicago Media Angel investors as there are members of our group who have loved ones with their own special needs and I thought they would be interested in telling the story. I personally wanted to tell the story because it brings a very human need to light with humor which creates empathy for a challenge most of us take for granted.”

Come As You Are currently has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Here is a trailer for Come As You Are:

The movie opens in these theaters across the U.S. this weekend:

Los Angeles 
Laemmle Glendale

New York
Cinema Village

Boston
Apple Cinemas

Chicago
Gene Siskel

Cleveland
Tower City Cinema

Columbus
Gateway Film Center

Dallas
Harkins Southlake

Denver
Harkins Northfield

Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne Cinema Center

Kansas City
Screenland Tapcade

Napa Valley
Cameo Cinema

Oklahoma
City Rodeo

Phoenix
Harkins Arizona Mills

San Francisco
Roxie Theater

The Villages, Florida
Old Mill Playhouse

The movie is also be available on digital platforms:

iTunes/AppleTV
FandangoNow 
Goldwyn

Movie Website

Do me a favor: Spread the world about this funny, heartfelt movie. Then do yourself a favor: Watch Come As You Are to be entertained and inspired.