May 30, 2008 08:00 PM
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Weekend King, the low-budget feature written and directed by Microsoft's Bill Levesque and produced by his colleague Brett Bonthron, has had its run at the Victoria Theater extended for three more weeks, playing tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The film won't win any Oscars, but I can see why audiences have responded well: As a comedy of manners set in the Valley, it captures much of the anxiety amongst the legions of post-boom cube dwellers who toil on the peninsula. In an interview at Valleywag hangout Caffe Roma, Levesque and Bonthron admitted the film needed some work in post-production, but were emphatic that it be seen with an audience — joking that I should insert my own laugh track into the screener DVD they provided to mimic the experience.
I'll spare Levesque and Bonthron a thorough critique, as picking on a movie shot on weekends for a grand total of $30,000 would be cruel. I will say that it was well written, and the performers entertaining — Levesque, particularly, showing his chops as a veteran stage player with a taste for physical comedy. Most importantly, the characters were believable as Valley archetypes, from the multimillionaire schlub Rupert (K.S. Haddock) who buys a small town in Utah to an aloof VC played by producer Bonthron.
While the two men suggested that ultimately it's a human story, and not strictly a tale of the Valley, it's strongest moments came when making personal points about living through the dot-bomb — jokes like "I think the only sex that happens in the Valley is between MBAs and engineers who are trying to leverage their dual mortgage payment" might not make sense to those outside the bubble.
Similarly, Levesque's character, Tom, lamented that his lost net worth as his options fell under water felt like someone was taking the money away from him, personally. Irrational? Yes. Understandable? Also yes. "At that time, people just lost sight of what money meant," Levesque pointed out over coffee.
Rupert's character provided a stark example of that. Like Slide's Max Levchin, who has already earned millions in selling PayPal, it's actually his dream to continue doing just that — going to the office and building a company. For the thousands of Valley denizens who have interests outside of term sheets and liquidity events, the money never seems to arrive. In the movie, Tom sums it up: "How come everyone else who made money in the bubble don't have anything else going on?"
It's not necessarily a spectacular film, but it's an ambitious accomplishment for first time feature filmmakers and it's an astute take on the Valley from those who've lived inside it for years — unlike, say, Hollywood fare like The Pirates of Silicon Valley and August. Twenty minutes excised by a professional editor would make it a lock for an audience award at the Cinequest, Indiefest or Marin film festivals. As for plans to distribute it online? Levesque and Bonthron haven't made any. Yet.
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Republished from http://valleywag.gawker.com
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