The 11th Tribeca Film Festival is only a few weeks away, and will feature plenty of indie movies vying for audience attention and studio distribution, so credit newcomer director Jay Gammill and Film Market for getting the word out early on their quirky comedy "Free Samples." The film stars Jess Weixler — known most notably for staging a war on penises in Mitchell Lichtenstein's 2007 horror-comedy "Teeth" — as a Stanford law-school dropout who gets stuck working in an ice cream truck for a day and is distracted by every goofy weirdo in town while she tries to figure out what to do with her life. Among those distractions is Jason Ritter (who also worked with Weixler in the 2009 romantic drama "Peter and Vandy") and Jesse Eisenberg, who could be Weixler's love interest in the movie (or could just appear in a handful of scenes).
Seeing Eisenberg as the earnest romantic isn't completely new, though it's comforting, so it's Weixler's performance that's the key to the trailer, as she tries to infuse her character's day-long hangover with as much charm as she can while alternately spewing insults and spilling her guts to her customers. Backing her up is best friend Halley Feiffer and the indie rock stylings of Seattle's Say Hi.
Written by newcomer Jim Beggarly, who also penned the upcoming comedy "The Kitchen" directed by Ishai Setton (who directed Weixler in Tribeca 2006 entry "The Big Bad Swim"), "Free Samples" looks like it could be a solid indie comedy, as long as the parade of ice-cream-crazed customers and waxing of soul-searching philosophy don't weigh down the effort. Those attending can see the world premiere Friday, April 20th. [THR]
