'Vanilla' film review: Road trip, first-date indie flick is familiar yet refreshing
Vanilla, as a flavor, is synonymous unexciting or bland. Vanilla is the uninspired, mundane fallback choice someone makes when confronted with all 31 flavors at Baskin-Robbins. Being called vanilla is typically not a compliment. But the indie rom-com "Vanilla" (available on VOD starting April 28) check all the boxes of typical rom-coms - except it has the refreshing confidence to not exactly fit into the genre’s typical mold.
In short: Aspiring comedian Kimmie (Kelsea Bauman) invites uptight entrepreneur Elliot (Will Dennis) on a road trip to help her sell his old van.
The fundamental plot flirts with something akin to high-concept, yet "Vanilla" resists the temptation to let cheap roadside high jinks take the wheel. The basic plot sounds absurd on paper: two total strangers essentially agree to a three-day long first date road trip from Manhattan to New Orleans ... to sell a van. The first act quickly establishes exactly why Elliot and Kimmie would agree to the crazy proposition and thankfully "Vanilla" gets the pair on the freeway ASAP. A less confident movie would inject as much on-the-road silliness as possible - but "Vanilla" makes the more fulfilling decision to let Kimmie and Elliot's chemistry and their respective internal character conflicts drive the story.
An "opposites attract" undercurrent drives the dynamic between Elliot and Kimmie. The script makes clear that she's the more carefree of the duo, while he might bristle at being called "uptight," but Elliot would know it's true. She's the blatantly honest wannabe stand-up comic to his more measured, particular tech entrepreneur. It would have been so easy to reduce these two as polar opposite cartoons trapped in a car while driving halfway across the country. Thankfully "Vanilla" spends more time exploring their commonalities than just playing up some broad, surface layer differences. Although quite different in personality, the character dynamic between Elliot and Kimmie explores the fact that they’re each taking their first steps toward their dreams. Watching their mismatched-but-delightful chemistry is fun, but the fact that their playful barbs serves the story and their characters deserves some credit.
While the first two acts don't break new ground in films pondering personal ambitions and modern dating, the third act is where this indie comedy impresses. "Opposites attract" romances are a dime a dozen and "road trip comedies" are an entire subcategory - but "Vanilla" roots itself in the familiar to become something unexpected and intriguing. Simply put: "Vanilla" does not resort to a predictable or lazy resolution. It's worth noting that "Vanilla" doesn't begin with two characters looking for love: Kimmie and Elliot simply find each other while navigating the path toward their ambitions.
Clocking in at just under an hour and a half, "Vanilla" moves along quite nicely as the script handily manages rom-com charm with some indie-flick soul searching. Some b-plot involving Kimmie and Elliot's family members could have been axed - but its relatively low-impact on the runtime and the scenes don't overstay their welcome. "Vanilla" is a rom-com that crackles as Elliot and Kimmie get to know each other - while this is great for its "rom" aspects, most of the "com" humor is nice but lacks any truly memorable laughs.
Finally, "Vanilla" is a great showcase for writer-director-star Will Dennis and his scene-stealing co-star Kelsea Bauman. Dennis crafted a story where the characters are the absolutely focus of each scene. Bauman finds the perfect balance between sharp comic timing and genuine character depth.
Final verdict: The actors play with the comedy to develop their romance, but "Vanilla" pulls the trick of being a rom-com that's secretly a drama following a pair of indecisive, hesitant dreams following their passions.
Score: 3.5/5
"Vanilla" is available on VOD on April 28. The indie comedy has a running time of 87 minutes and is unrated.
