There are all kinds of films, good, bad, and indifferent. Of course we all relish the good and the great. But the “bad” or indifferent films can have value, too.

Kisses and Caroms isn’t a bad film. It is an indie style film made on a small budget, shot on video, utilizing a handful of sets and employing a small group of actors, who play friends and colleagues working in a billiards supply house, who make momentous personal decisions in the course of one day. It is earnest and well made within those limitations, and if the film had been made by Universal and released as a summer teen sex comedy, with the aid of 16 more writers and / or script doctors, it might be a modest hit.

As it stands now, it is a very good calling card movie, one which director and co-writer Vincent Rocca can use to show executives and say, See, I can make a movie that is funny and makes sense, is well edited and well shot, so give me a chance to become the next Steven Spielberg, even the next Shawn Levy.

In the course of the day covered by the film, Zack (Drew Wicks) realizes that he has to make a choice about his recently ex-girlfriend and still-co-worker Jennifer (Nikki Stanzione), while his work friend David (Ryan Parks, who bears a slight resemblance to Edward Burns) realizes that he has to stop trying to imitate Warren Beatty and change his conduct. The day begins with Zack and Jennifer waking up in bed — with Tara (Nicole Rayburn), the female equivalent of David, a fun loving hedonist and a champion pool player who also works at the billiard shop. Jennifer suggested the threesome because that’s what she is, the perfect girlfriend who will even do things such as let Zack indulge in his sexual fantasy. David, meanwhile, has a habit of being invited back to the homes of clients such as Ginger Lynn Allen for extemporaneous sex. Eventually, Dr. Bob Johnson (Bart Shattuck), a Dr. Phil style radio counselor, catches David in flagrante and heads down to the billiard shop for a confrontation.

David’s later reflection is thus well motivated, if perhaps temporary. Zack’s resistance to settling down with Jennifer is mysterious, even though he explains it well enough. But that speaks to a moral or behavioral conflict within the movie. Hugh Hefner is to Kisses what the Rat Pack was to Swingers, a living manual of modern conduct. David and Zack often wonder what “Hef” would do in a given situation.

But at the same time, if Kisses has a frat boy’s surface philosophy, it also has a chick flick’s center. Taking an essentially conservative position, the film affirms marriage, commitment. I am guessing that the film is going to lose the guys around the time David submits to soul searching, and pick up the women around the time that Jennifer and Zack have their first argument.

Another thread of the film is score settling. I am guessing that writers Rocca and / or Michael Hutchinson had some kind of shit day job. A parallel film within the film, so to speak, is the succession of uncomprehending, demanding, scamming customers that the staff have to deal with while barely hiding their contempt. As someone who also has a shit day job, I can speak to the fact of this half of the film’s accuracy. On the other hand, David and Zack have a cavalier attitude toward their clients (as seen in their humor over and disdain for a customer leaving messages on the store’s machine when the shop hasn’t opened on time) makes them much less likable.

But what do I mean when I note that even bad or indifferent films have value? I hinted at this with the reference to the usual 16 writers that most summer blockbusters have. Kisses and Caroms only has two credited writers, but the script would have benefited from a few more journeys through the word processor. Some of the dialogue, and thus the acting, is uneven, such as in the first scene between David and Zack, and sometimes the dialogue feels too chatty and not focused. On the other hand, a scene between Tara, Jennifer, and Zack, about religion and Mormonism is both well written and well acted.

One character, Eddie, (Keith Alexander) is the butt of jokes because he is not naturally funny like the two privileged main characters. Unfortunately, they are not as funny as they think they are. But yet, the film is onto something with this set up; we all know people, either from school or big work places, who rely on TV to write their jokes for them, and traffic in empty catch phrases. It’s just that the writers did not think it though enough, or come up with better examples to really capture the pathetic hollowness of Eddie. Also, the crude cloacal humor, such as scenes with Eddie and Tara in the bathroom (not with each other), though they may be nods to films from Porky’s to Clerks, also aren’t funny. In honor of the film’s roots in recent film history, Rocca makes a nod to Kevin Smith with the character of a Silent Bobbette (Deanna Rocca) delivering some Mooby’s food substances to the shop. Still, director Rocca shows unheralded bedrock filmmaking skills, and I look forward to  his next film.

After a limited theatrical release, Kisses and Caroms hits the street as a DVD on Tuesday, August 22nd. For extras, on the disc I reviewed, anyway, the package offers Rocca’s earlier film, a short subject called Helium a funny mock news story about the witnesses to an auto company’s dirigible crashing into a warehouse all speaking in squeaky voices thanks to the escaped gas. The disc as it hit the street contains two commentary tracks, one featuring the cast, the other the director, plus three featurettes offering auditions, outtakes, a “making of,” and a photo gallery with 80-plus images.

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