Easier with Practice

Davy Mitchell is an introverted writer struggling on tour to promote his unpublished short stories. His lonely nights heat up when Davy receives a seemingly random phone call from a woman named Nicole. The sultry stranger seduces him into an intense session of phone sex, sparking an erotic and intimate relationship that is based entirely around the phone calls that she initiates. Davy wants to make it work, but he becomes frustrated when she refuses to give out her number. Fed up with her games, he determines to meet Nicole in person. That is, if she ever calls again.

• Brian Geraghty as Davy Mitchell
• Kel O'Neill as Sean Mitchell
• Marguerite Moreau as Samantha
• Jeanette Brox as Sarah
• Jenna Gavigan as Josie
• Katie Aselton as Nicole

Director Kyle Patrick Alvarez was inspired by Davy Rothbart's autobiographical article "What Are You Wearing?" in the August 2006 issue of GQ magazine.{{cite web |last=Soares |first=Andre |date=October 29, 2009 |title=AFI FEST 2009: Phone Sex Gets Easier with Practice |url=http://www.altfg.com/blog/festivals/easier-with-practice-phone-sex-alvarez/ |website=Alt Film Guide |access-date=2013-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030224332/http://www.altfg.com/blog/festivals/easier-with-practice-phone-sex-alvarez/ |archive-date=October 30, 2009}}{{Cite web |last=Soares |first=Andre |title=Easier with Practice: Q&A with Kyle Patrick Alvarez |url=https://www.altfg.com/film/kyle-patrick-alvarez-easier-with-practice/ |website=Alt Film Guide |date=February 24, 2010 |access-date=2023-01-03}}{{Cite web |last=Tobias |first=Scott |date=2010-02-25 |title=Easier With Practice |url=https://www.avclub.com/easier-with-practice-1798164476 |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=The A.V. Club}}{{Cite magazine |last=Rothbart |first=Davy |author-link=Davy Rothbart |date=August 2006 |title=What Are You Wearing? |url=https://www.gq.com/story/phone-sex-davy-rothbart-gq-august-2006 |access-date=2023-01-03 |magazine=GQ}}

The film was produced by Forty Second Productions with a Red One camera system.{{Cite magazine |date=2009-06-16 |title=Easier With Practice — Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/easier-practice-film-review-93270/ |access-date=2023-01-03 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}} Principal photography began in April 2008 and concluded on June 10 of that year, after 20 days of filming.{{cite press release |url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/forty-second-productions/easier-with-practice/prweb1012504.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619081910/http://www.prweb.com/releases/forty-second-productions/easier-with-practice/prweb1012504.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 19, 2008 |title=Forty second productions wraps production on 'Easier With Practice' |agency=PR Newswire |date=June 10, 2008 |access-date=May 30, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/toolkit-case-study-directorwriter-kyle-alvarez-the-road-to-making-easier-with-practice-244511/ |title=Toolkit Case Study: Director/Writer Kyle Alvarez & the Road to Making "Easier With Practice" |website=IndieWire |date=November 2, 2010 |access-date=May 30, 2023}} Filming took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, primarily in a motel.

Easier with Practice had its world premiere at the CineVegas film festival, where it won the 2009 Grand Jury Prize. Its international premiere was at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it garnered Best New International Feature. The film was released theatrically in New York City and Los Angeles on February 26, 2010, by Lantern Lane Entertainment.{{cite news |last=Olsen |first=Mark |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-28-la-ca-indiefocus28-2010feb28-story.html |title=Kyle Patrick Alvarez's 'Easier With Practice' finds its way to screens |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 28, 2010 |access-date=May 30, 2023 |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530183757/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-28-la-ca-indiefocus28-2010feb28-story.html |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Dargis |first=Manohla |author-link=Manohla Dargis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/movies/26easier.html |title=On the Phone, Alienated and Indulging |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 25, 2010 |access-date=May 30, 2023 |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126154637/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/movies/26easier.html |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |url-status=live}} It was also distributed in Canada by Mongrel Media.{{Cite magazine |last=Bell |first=Robert |date=March 27, 2010 |title=Easier with Practice Kyle Patrick Alvarez |url=https://exclaim.ca/film/article/easier_with_practice-directed_by_kyle_patrick_alvarez |access-date=2023-01-03 |magazine=Exclaim!}}

The film was rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association of America. Though the film does not feature any nudity, the rating was supposedly given for the graphic sexual dialogue.{{Cite web |last=Quinn |first=Courtney |date=2010-03-01 |title=LAist Interview: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Easier With Practice |url=https://laist.com/news/entertainment/laist-interview-150 |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=LAist}}

The film was released on DVD by Breaking Glass Pictures on April 6, 2010.{{Cite web |title=Easier with Practice (2010) – Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Easier-with-Practice |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=The Numbers}}

On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Easier with Practice holds an approval rating of 88% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "This promising debut from writer-director Kyle Patrick Alvarez is anchored by a startlingly honest and tender performance from Brian Geraghty that helps make Easier with Practice more than just another road trip drama."{{Cite web |title=Easier with Practice |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/easier_with_practice |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}

Justin Chang of Variety called it "a quietly provocative love story about emotionally stunted manhood and the risks some guys will take to connect."{{Cite magazine |last=Chang |first=Justin |date=2009-06-14 |title=Easier With Practice |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/reviews/easier-with-practice-1200475145/ |access-date=2023-01-03 |magazine=Variety}} Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote, "Love stories don't come much squirmier than this one, and Alvarez plays it with honesty, insight, and the awkwardness inherent in this blindest of blind dates." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said, "The film is a slow-burner: a study in loneliness and alienation, whose unexpected ending and ambiguous aftermath require us to reassess all that has gone before."{{Cite news |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Bradshaw |date=2010-12-02 |title=Easier With Practice – review |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/dec/02/easier-with-practice-review |access-date=2023-01-03 |newspaper=The Guardian}}

• 2010 Independent Spirit Awards
• Best First Feature – nominated{{Cite web |last=Finke |first=Nikki |date=2009-12-01 |title=2010 Indie Film Spirit Award Nominations |url=https://deadline.com/2009/12/film-independent-spirit-award-nominations-19366/ |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=Deadline Hollywood}}
• Someone to Watch Award – Kyle Patrick Alvarez, winner{{Cite magazine |last=McNary |first=Dave |date=2010-03-06 |title=A 'Precious' night at Indie Spirit Awards |url=https://variety.com/2010/film/awards/a-precious-night-at-indie-spirit-awards-1118016162/ |access-date=2023-01-03 |magazine=Variety}}
• 2009 CineVegas International Film Festival – Grand Jury Award, winner
• 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival – Best New International Feature, winner
• 2009 Memphis Indie Film Festival – Special Jury Prize, winner

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20090119063311/http://www.easierwithpractice.com/}}
• {{IMDb title}}
• {{Metacritic film}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
• [http://www.mongrelmedia.com/index.php/filmlink?id=8188d56d-244e-4e5b-b6ea-eddfd6d0a2a4 Easier with Practice] at Mongrel Media

{{Kyle Patrick Alvarez}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Easier With Practice}}

Category:2009 films

Category:2009 directorial debut films

Category:2009 drama films

Category:2009 independent films

Category:2000s American films

Category:2000s drama road movies

Category:2000s English-language films

Category:American drama road movies

Category:American independent films

Category:Films about telephony

Category:Films about writers

Category:Films based on newspaper and magazine articles

Category:Films directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez

Category:Films set in motels

Category:Films set in New Mexico

Category:Films shot in New Mexico

Category:English-language independent films