Permission (2018)

Director/writer Brian Crano has assembled an excellent cast. Permission has adults having adult conversations. We watch as two very different couples grapple with managing their relationships and the hardships that ensue when one person (or both) deviate from "the plan". Crano allows his characters to be smart, stupid, loving, selfish ... that is, real people. Rebecca Hall steals the show and yet her character is perhaps the least likable of them all. After seeing her here, I will watch her in anything. A scene late in the movie is as real as life and as such is tender, wrenching, and beautiful. So, why only 5 stars? All of these great parts do not add up in the end. The middle of the film lags. As great as the acting may be, I didn't believe the ending. Crano works with his actors and creates great moments. The culmination of those moments, while clearly articulated in the film, seemed trite at worst and less than satisfying at best. Normally such an ending would result in less than 5 / 10 from me (starting from a pass/fail scale). Yet, the greatly crafted scenes and great ensemble acting make Permission worth recommending.

...it's a good film... with a good script.. using solid actors.. ..time spent watching a billion dollar blockbuster.. ..or a great little film like Permission....we age.. we change.. ... .. more possibility of differences becoming substantial.....this work shows lots of similar depth & quality ..as the Williams-Rogen movie.. Take This Waltz..

I'll be very up front, I didn't even make it past the first scene if the restaurant. It felt like a film school class example on predictable, hackneyed character creation.This movie is so bad that I came to imdb to look up the writer's name so I would never go to another of his movies in the future. That is NOT an exaggeration.

Long term, exclusive couple test their relationship by sleeping around! What could go wrong? Plenty of course, but "Permission" is more than a quirky, guilty pleasure premise. Heck it's not even a comedy. As our adorable love birds take their first baby steps outside of their cage, there is, dread, apprehension, fear, but mostly there is excitement. How Anna and Will deal with their suddenly evolving world is decent fodder for a serious movie, yet it is another couple that steals the show. Anna's baby craving brother and his reluctant boyfriend offer up a better plot line. Sometimes juicy don't cut it. This really is a tale of two couples, and unravelling the daily intimacy and neurosis of both relationships, with some terrific performances, is where "Permission" works best. It's a messy film with a whole lot goin' on, but manages to entertain while posing some interesting questions.