Sugary ‘Magic Hour’ far from to die for

    With the exasperating “Magic Hour,” the multi-hyphenate Katie Aselton continues her facile fascination with elements of fantasy and the supernatural. And she somewhat smartly heads off at the pass any criticism by making the picture so rife with potential spoilers that it’s nearly rendered review-proof. I mean, how can you adequately evaluate a film when every complaint reveals the twist that the entire thing hinges on? Well, let’s give it a shot.

    In addition to directing and co-writing the script with her husband, Mark Duplass, Aselton plays Erin, a woman at a crossroads after an initially unexplained event leaves her at odds with her charming-to-the-max husband, Charlie, played engagingly by a never-better Daveed Diggs.  The couple has come to Joshua Tree for a therapeutic weekend retreat at the opulent desert domicile of Erin’s good friend, Marshall (an underutilized Brad Garrett).

     From the beginning, it’s clear that something is a bit off, especially in how Marshall fails to acknowledge Charlie’s presence when he greets his guests upon their arrival. Marshall also seems unusually empathetic toward Erin as he departs on his own weekend adventure, leaving the couple alone to work out their differences.

      Even stranger is the casualness Charlie exhibits toward his distraught spouse as she repeatedly assails him for an unnamed act that has left her tearfully aggrieved. And how is it that Charlie is unharmed after Erin shoves him over a cliff during a fit of rage? It doesn’t take much thought to figure it out, which makes you wonder why Aselton felt the need to conceal the root cause of Erin’s anger for the first 15 or so minutes.

     It certainly comes as no surprise when she brings the “big reveal” to the fore. And we’ve still got another hour of Erin railing at Charlie over his role in an event he had no control over. It’s an annoyance exacerbated by Erin’s sudden, almost hysterical mood swings, which take her from denial to acceptance in a matter of hours. We should be so lucky.

      The film’s central gimmick wears thin quickly, as the increasingly clunky dialogue elicits more eyerolls than tears. And what’s with the quartet of drag queens dropping by uninvited for a night of frivolity and commiseration? Were they just in the neighborhood? I suspect the reason they are here is that Aselton and Duplass ran so short on ideas that they needed them to pad a barely 80-minute film. Ditto, for another out-of-the-blue visit by Erin’s mother, played by a wasted Susan Sullivan.

      Any hope of sticking with this slog is due entirely to yet another fantastic performance by Diggs. The “Hamilton” star even gets to flash his vocal talents on a couple of occasions. But it’s his dramatic chops that serve the movie best, as he gives his all in a losing cause. His charisma is the film’s chief calling card. Although kudos also go to Sarah Whelden for her gorgeous cinematography, which captures the desert’s natural beauty in all its arid glory.

    Alas, she can do nothing to enliven the inertness of the human tragedy unfolding before her camera. The goal of exploring the challenge of overcoming loss and finding the courage to move on is a worthy subject for any movie, but not one this empty and cliched, no matter the hour.

Movie review

Magic Hour

Rated: Not rated

Cast: Daveed Diggs, Katie Aselton, Brad Garrett and Susan Sullivan

Director: Katie Aselton

Writers: Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass

Runtime: 80 minutes

Where: In theaters May 15 (limited), expanding nationwide May 22

Grade: C