There's Always Vanilla tells the story of Chris, who has recently returned home after serving in the Army in Vietnam. He doesn't have a steady job, instead making money by playing guitar on other people's records and through a variety of other implied methods, eventually moving into the apartment of a young woman he meets and mooching off of her while he tries his hand at writing. His father offers him a secure "vanilla" job at his factory, but Chris rejects the offer as it doesn't suit his lifestyle.
There's not much new and exciting in this film. For the most part, it's all stuff we've already seen a thousand times before. The director, George Romero, called it his worst film, and it is often overlooked even by fans of his work. I would argue, however, that it is well worth watching for two reasons: the dialogue and the lead actor, Ray Laine.
Laine, who plays the sarcastic, apathetic Chris in one of his few film roles, delivers a fun, memorable performance. His acting is leaps and bounds ahead of the other cast members', and even if this film isn't fresh and original, his performance is. The film is never boring and the reason for that is Ray Laine, who dominates almost every scene.
It's hard not to like the character he brings to life and his dry humor and constant sarcasm, even if we almost never agree with his selfish actions and motivations. I must say, however, that the performance is a bit spotty and drags at times, but for the most part it is solid.
Similarly, the dialogue is almost always unrivaled, especially when it comes to nearly every single one of Laine's lines. He delivers most of them flawlessly and nearly all of them are extremely quotable, hilarious, or otherwise memorable. Several of the other characters have some great lines too.
One particularly memorable moment is when Chris appears at his girlfriend's apartment long after she's kicked him out. She asks him what he wants. She wants to know why he's come to bother her and he knows that that's what she's asking, but instead of answering that question he simply shrugs and replies: "A peanut butter sandwich." This film is by no means a masterpiece, but it is entertaining at the very least and watching it would not be a waste of time. And if you're in the mood for a fun, cheesy 70's B movie, you just might end up loving it. Sure, we've seen this same old story a hundred times before, but rarely, if ever, has it come packaged with the wonderful performance and brilliant dialogue found in There's Always Vanilla.
There's not much new and exciting in this film. For the most part, it's all stuff we've already seen a thousand times before. The director, George Romero, called it his worst film, and it is often overlooked even by fans of his work. I would argue, however, that it is well worth watching for two reasons: the dialogue and the lead actor, Ray Laine.
Laine, who plays the sarcastic, apathetic Chris in one of his few film roles, delivers a fun, memorable performance. His acting is leaps and bounds ahead of the other cast members', and even if this film isn't fresh and original, his performance is. The film is never boring and the reason for that is Ray Laine, who dominates almost every scene.
It's hard not to like the character he brings to life and his dry humor and constant sarcasm, even if we almost never agree with his selfish actions and motivations. I must say, however, that the performance is a bit spotty and drags at times, but for the most part it is solid.
Similarly, the dialogue is almost always unrivaled, especially when it comes to nearly every single one of Laine's lines. He delivers most of them flawlessly and nearly all of them are extremely quotable, hilarious, or otherwise memorable. Several of the other characters have some great lines too.
One particularly memorable moment is when Chris appears at his girlfriend's apartment long after she's kicked him out. She asks him what he wants. She wants to know why he's come to bother her and he knows that that's what she's asking, but instead of answering that question he simply shrugs and replies: "A peanut butter sandwich." This film is by no means a masterpiece, but it is entertaining at the very least and watching it would not be a waste of time. And if you're in the mood for a fun, cheesy 70's B movie, you just might end up loving it. Sure, we've seen this same old story a hundred times before, but rarely, if ever, has it come packaged with the wonderful performance and brilliant dialogue found in There's Always Vanilla.