Whirlygirl is one of those comedies that's greatly hurt by its marketing and its own DVD cover, which makes it look like another senseless, vulgarian comedy that was destined to go straight to the bargain bins of Wal-Mart. It's very similar in story and in general to the underrated film The Girl Next Door in 2004, which was greatly hurt by a marketing campaign that wanted to exploit the perceived sexiness rather than the touching human elements that lied within. Whirlygirl, on the other hand, tackles the heartbreaking idea of falling in love with someone who is difficult or impossible to be in love with, a concept that few films dare explore in a world where mawkish, overblown romance films are so beloved.
The film revolves around James Edwards (Julian Morris), a student at the prestigious Walden Academy, an all male prep school. Due to campus fun being depressingly minimal, James's friend Raol (J.A.Q.) contacts a mysterious woman known as "The Whirlygirl" (Monet Muzur), a fabled exotic dancer that travels to all-male schools to put on a show at fraternities. When she arrives at Walden, the boys are instantly smitten with the woman, as she makes each one of them feel like they're the perfect man at various times during her performance. Before she concludes her show, she passionately kisses James and then takes off in a flash.
The next morning, James realizes his late father's watch is missing and believes the only person who could've realistically taken it was The Whirlygirl. He calls a cab and tracks down her home with the help of the driver before confronting her accordingly. The Whirlygirl, who's real name is Alice, winds up revealing to James that she's a conwoman as well as an erotic dancer, living alone in a small loft, estranged from her mother and performing at fraternities and tending to the needs of a sugar daddy for some stable sense of income. While it may not be a glamorous life, it's one she's content with. James can't fathom why Alice, a beautiful and clearly street-smart young woman, would put herself through these kinds of terrible situations, and Alice can't fathom why James, after what she did and how her life looks at the moment, would still gradually push closer towards her.
The fact that James falls in love with Alice despite her unattractive features makes this a messy situation all around, and writer Pete McCormack doesn't sugarcoat the sadness at hand. James is a young man, clearly kept in line by his academics and the drudgery of constantly doing the right thing, with no woman in his life to speak of until The Whirlygirl comes along and gives him a reason to be excited. In addition, director Jim Wilson wisely doesn't make the first kiss between The Whirlygirl and James too cinematic or too romantic; it's the kind of kiss that we can see makes the two parties feel something, but not in the overblown way films tend to dramatize that special kiss. It's a beautifully understated tactic.
Furthermore, McCormack explores the real sadness of loving someone who is in capable or momentarily unable to love the other person back. James isn't a stupid character; he knows that Alice dances and strips for a living, lives a life predominately on her own, and places herself in dangerous situations regularly; the beautiful thing, however, is that he still tries to be there for her when she's being impossible to love. Whether she's passing out because of the pills she took or being put in grave danger at a frat party, James watches over her and desperately tries to save her from herself because he knows the kind of woman she really is - a woman that's above all that she puts herself through. He desperately wants things to work between the two, in addition to making an attempt to understand why Alice puts herself in the situations that she does when she's so much brighter than that.
If it's not obvious already, Whirlygirl strikes a very personal chord with me. I've lived through an experience similar to Jim's and still am affected by it to this day. This film explores the idea of impossible love with a tender focus and with much more respect for its characters than its narrow-minded, pandering DVD cover suggests. Of course, there are elements of incredulity in the characters' actions, such as the hearing at Walden Academy near the end, but there is an unshakable sincerity to the characters here that few comedies are willing to explore. Most of them get too wrapped up in the idea of being vulgar and crass, checking the heart and wit at the door. Here is a comedy that has ample amounts of humor, serious amounts of sadness and real-world troubles, and an ending that comes so, so very close to discarding all of that but, instead, takes a quietly tragic route. There's something so humbly subversive about this film that it makes you wish more comedies were this wise and sensitive.
Starring: Julian Morris, Monet Muzur, and J.A.Q.. Directed by: Jim Wilson.
