As the title suggests, writer/director Adam Mervis is aiming for more complexity in this film than its surface simplicity suggests. It’s a two character drama set entirely in a posh hotel room high above Las Vegas. The two characters are identified only as Man (Mike Faiola) and Woman (Sarah Harper). Their names change throughout the course of their long dalliance, part of the ever-evolving game of cat and mouse the two engage in about who they “really are.” The couple has enjoyed what appears to be a one night stand when the movie begins. But the man’s claim that he’s a “painter” is immediately suspect as he offers the woman thousands of dollars to extend her stay, producing a pack of crisp bill. “Everything has a price," he tells her.
But this is no “Pretty Woman” premise. What ensues is verbal volleying as Man and Woman engage in a power dynamic to find out more about one other to gain the upper hand. The man is older and clearly very wealthy but the woman holds her own in their exchanges that blend boundary-testing, philosophy and sexual politics.
A single-set two hander like this depends entirely on interesting characters and solid performances. As one day turns into two and then three and the stakes rise, the film delivers on both counts. Man’s cocaine induced tirade on the social benefits of prostitution might be insufferable in not for Faiola’s indications that there is more to this self-described playboy. As defenses break down and daddy issues surface, Harper conveys how Woman’s obvious intelligence might mean she’s already one step ahead and holding her cards close to her vest.
By the time Man is persuading her to jet off to Paris, there’s a twist and the power dynamic dramatically shifts. Viewers may debate who profits from whom and whether capitalism is the victim but that ambiguity is one of the film’s strengths.
