Joe Swanberg, whose last film, "Kissing on the Mouth," was one of the highlights of SXSW in 2005, returns a year later with a film that just doesn't live up to the promise he showed in his earlier work.

Granted, this film, like "Kissing," is improvised and it seems that the acting here has improved immensely. In "Kissing," there were a lot of long pauses, hemming and hawing, and awkward moments which could often seem frustrating to the viewer and that really isn't a problem here. The acting here is actually pretty good. The problem here more about the film's story and theme.

And it's making it sound like I hated "LOL" and I didn't. I liked it okay. It was just disappointing in many ways is all. The film certainly could have been more focused and thoughtful.

Swanberg suggests that he is attempting to expose the way modern electronic media infuses our lives, particularly our romantic lives, with distractions; the irony being that these "communication" devices, which are supposed to allow us to relate to one and other more easily and effectively, actually distance us and isolate even more in the modern world. But Swanberg has as much trouble communicating his theme as his characters do communicating with each other in an attempt to prove this point.

There are three plot threads here. In the most prominent one, Kevin Bewersdorf plays a goofy little musician who records people making noises with only their mouths then samples and loops these, overlays them with other loops from different people doing the same, and creates songs. Bewersdorf, who co-wrote the film (more about that later) also provides the score. And his songs, called Noiseheads here, which are shown in the film are displayed on video with the images of the people making the noises displayed in a series of tic- tac-toe style boxes. These piece act as transitions in the film and the effect is quite nice.

Bewersdorf plays a musician and his character, Alex, has several scenes in the film where he plays music on interesting little homemade electronic devices. It's really cool. In fact, so cool, that a doc about Bewersdorf might actually be a little more interesting than this film.

Anyway, Alex has a crush on some stripper on an internet porn site and herein lies one of the biggest problems with the film. He seems completely naive and idiotic about thinking this porn girl wants to meet him and yet the set-up to make us understand his obsession is not quite clear. Could this guy really be so dumb that he thinks this net stripper wants to meet him.

Maybe I missed something. After all the girl does strip in the movie for us, and the characters to watch on a screen. Oh, I didn't get distracted by her stripping off her pants and panties and dancing. I'm so gay I was distracted by thinking about what an adorable top she had on. It was so cute. I've never seen one quite like it. It really accentuated her boyish body.

Anyway... where was I? Oh yes. The other stories are also a little convoluted. Swanberg plays a guy addicted to his laptop, much to the chagrin and ultimate wrath of his girlfriend. And cutie C. Mason Wells plays a guy who is trying to have a long distance relationship with his girlfriend who has went to college. They fight about how he thinks that the nude pictures she took for him with her camera phone are unsexy. Both of these relationships end in failure, of course.

Cell phones, cell phone cameras, laptops, IM's, text messages, voicemail, e- mail, and other electronic media all play a part in the ultimate failure of all the young men's romantic interests here, but the film is so jagged and improvised that it is really hard to see this theme while the film is playing out. Even the irony of the title is kind of lost on us until we really take a long time to consider the film.

Swanberg, along with Bewersdorf and Wells improvised the film as they made it. Not only the dialogue, but also the arcs of the divergent subplots and this lackluster attention to cohesion is evident as the film plays out. Yes, when one stops to consider the film as a whole, there is something there. And, God knows, I don't want to be spoonfed, but ultimately the film is too disjointed to work well.

Still Swanberg, Wells and Bewersdorf are attractive, as are the young ladies in the film, and this certainly won't be the last we see of any of them. Swanberg is still near the top of my list for filmmakers to watch. His films may seem like cheap little videos made by a group of friends, but there is always a lot going on to keep us entertained and attuned. In "Kissing," the nudity and sexuality of the piece was bold, daring, and seemingly unprecedented in the video age. With "LOL," Swanberg has given us interesting technical events like the Noise Head transitions and the use of gadgets to compel us. There is no doubt that his next film will be equally, if not even more greatly, compelling, unique and thought-provoking.

Note:

Also with Andrew Bujalski ("Funny Ha Has") in a small role.

Swanberg credits himself with the director, co-writer, producer, cinematographer and editor roles.

Filmmaker Mark Duplass and SXSW Producer Matt Dentler are thanked in the end credits.

Filmed primarily in Chicago.

Several Noise Head segments were made for the film which did not make it into the final cut.

The film was originally intended to by made in pieces which could be randomly accessed and seen in random order on a DVD player or an Ipod Shuffle, but that plan was scraped during production as various arcs in the characters' stories because evident.

Viewed in March 2006 on the last day of SXSW at the Austin Convention Center. Swanberg, Bewersdorf and Wells were in attendance and did a Q&A. More about that can be found on the Day 9 coverage of the festival.

Report Card

Script: C-

Acting: B+

Cinematography\Lighting: A

Special Effects\Make Up: A

Music: A+

Final Grade: C+