Caroline and Jackie Sounds Like Family

Family gatherings can be so excruciating that even the tiniest comment will send you running for the door. Most of us can never leave, though; they’re family. That’s exactly the cringing warmth you feel watching Adam Christian Clark’s first feature, Caroline and Jackie, which is not about the Kennedys, but the leads here are just as wild. Clark lures you into the chaos through beautiful visuals like the sparkly evening lights of an L.A. dinner party, and the night’s principal characters, two attractive brunette sisters. One is a control freak who could be suffering from an eating disorder and alcoholism, and the other is immature, nosy, and promiscuous. Both irritate. That’s the gist and charm of this family’s dynamic, which is so real that at times it’s unbearable. But as much as you may hate these twisted sisters, you also feel their pain. “I think it’s just not cool how you’re into chicks that have sickness, that’s like a sick fetish,” Caroline whispers to Jackie’s boyfriend. So who is the worst? Caroline? Jackie? Ryan, the cute boyfriend who confesses to having a gross STD? Michelle, the clueless best friend with a different lover every other week? All of them. The film, which spans just one night, is all entwined fucked-uppedness, with one person’s problem overlapping with someone else’s and then that one overlapping others’, too. Sounds like family to us.