Me and You and Everyone We Know (USA/UK 2005, Comedy/Drama) Writer/Director: Miranda July

This was one of my favourite films of 2005. It’s such a funny, quirky, insightful piece full of odd-ball characters who do completely bizarre things that might seem insane in the real world, but just make them all the more endearing in the film. Like Richard (John Hawkes), who sets his hand on fire as a tribute to his failed marriage.

Me and You and Everyone We Know is about a lot of people who are all connected in some way. The main character is Christine Jesperson (Miranda July), a performance artist who pays the bills by driving elderly people around town. She instantly falls in love when she meets Richard, who is trying to deal with life as a newly-single father of two sons, Peter (Miles Thompson) and Robby (Brandon Ratcliff). The boys are resentful of their new living arrangements, and escape to the computer where they create intricate drawings using symbols and letters on the keyboard, and engage in online sex with Nancy (Tracy Wright), who runs the gallery where Christine wants to show her work.

The film was written and directed by July, and her background as a real-life performance artist really comes through. Aside from the fact that Christine is also a performance artist, there are parts of Me and You and Everyone We Know that are almost experimental. Odd little moments sneak up and insinuate themselves in the film, even though they’re completely outside of the narrative structure. Like the scene where the goldfish is stuck on the car roof.

A few things I love about this film:

1. The opening scene, when Christine does both voices for the two people in the photograph.

2. The scene in the gallery elevator, when Nancy refuses to accept Christine’s video in person and insists that she mail it back to her. (“But I’m right here.”)

3. Robby’s idea of online sex: “Back and forth. Forever.” Turns out some people really are into that kind of kinky shit.

4. The way that Richard and Christine instantly connect on their stroll down the sidewalk. Even though he completely freaks out afterward and shuts her down.

5. The push/pull dance of the ME and YOU shoes.

6. The tender moment on the bench when Nancy realizes that her online “lover” is actually a four-year-old boy. And then he comforts her instead of the other way around.

7. When Christine comes up behind Richard as he leans against the tree, and curls her fingers around his. Their chemistry is so intense in that moment.

Me and You and Everyone We Know is wonderful and sometimes absurd, and most of all, it makes you feel. I wish I’d made this film. Rent it!