Because I am currently visiting my home town of Chicago, I have been in the mood for watching films with an urban setting.  Thus, after some extensive flipping through the slow scrolling service of Netflix in my hotel room, I landed on Person to Person (2017).  I just went to Confession today, so I am a little more hesitant to be critical or flippant, but this one is challenging.  I am not even sure it can be called a film.  There are three different stories going on, and a fourth branches off from the original trio.  The characters involved in them never cross paths.  This means that I am going to have to approach this review differently than my usual format.  That is okay.  What is less okay is what I am about to describe to you.

The first aspect of Person to Person to describe to you is Benny (Bene Coopersmith).  He is awakened by a phone call from Paul (Buddy Duress), a young man with a rare Charlie Parker (not pictured) jazz record.  Benny is a collector, and is thus interested in purchasing the album.  Before departing to do so, he gives a pep talk to his friend Ray (George Sample III), who is sleeping on Benny’s couch.  Ray’s side story is the fourth plot line mentioned above, and it involves his depression over angering his girlfriend, Janet (Marsha Stephanie Blake).  She has every right to be mad, by the way, since he posted nude pictures of her online in a fit of jealousy.  The situation is solved, though, when Janet’s brother, Lester (Okieriete Onaodowan), finds Ray and gets revenge by putting embarrassing photographs of the offender on the internet.  This seems to satisfy Janet, and by the end they are back to living with one another.  As for Benny, the printing turns out to be a fake, leading to a bicycle chase across what looks to be a few boroughs before he finally gets his money back from Paul.  Feeling celebratory, he calls Francis (Eleonore Hendricks), the woman he is in love with, to have dinner and finally admit his feelings.  The night concludes with them dancing together during a party in his apartment.

The next story in Person to Person to discuss is that of Claire (Abbi Jacobson), an aspiring reporter for the fictional newspaper, the New York News.  “Aspiring” is probably the wrong word as she would rather have her cat let her sleep another five minutes.  Upon getting to the office, she is promptly greeted by her boss, Phil (Michael Cera), who will be accompanying her today on her first assignment.  The publication has received word that there has been a suicide, which might be a murder.  The notion of covering such an event has her uneasy, and his devotion to death metal does not help matters.  Also unhelpful is the reticence of people to talk about what happened.  This especially becomes a problem when the police lead them to Jimmy (Philip Baker Hall), a watch repairman.  He has been tasked with fixing the deceased’s time piece, brought to his shop by the widow (Michaela Watkins).  It is a crucial clue as to the nature of the crime, but he refuses to talk to either the authorities or Claire.  That so many are remaining tight-lipped has Claire rethinking her career choices.  Yet, because Phil is attracted to her, he gets her to give Jimmy another try.  The moment Claire chooses for the follow up happens to coincide with the widow coming to pick up the wristwatch.  Claire’s presence is discovered, which upsets the widow, particularly when the would-be reporter is present as the police arrive to arrest the former wife.  Before she is taken away, she attacks Claire.  With all this, much to Phil’s disappointment, she decides to depart and find a new line of work.

Finally, the third plot line in Person to Person involves Wendy (Tavi Gevinson).  She is a moody high schooler with a penchant for skipping class with her best friend, Melanie (Olivia Luccardi).  Wendy is angsty about everything from the current state of society to her sexuality.  Melanie is less so, pointedly as regards members of the opposite sex, underscored when she invites over her boyfriend.  Wendy’s first instinct to leave, but the boyfriend has also brought River (Ben Rosenfield).  With Melanie making out with her boyfriend, Wendy decides to give it a try with River.  When Melanie announces that they need to leave because her mom is returning, River and Wendy end up going off on their own.  It then becomes just her after he takes her to a crime scene with a dead body.

The last we see of Wendy in Person to Person is her returning to the crimes scene and staring at the bloody stain on the road.  It is never mentioned whether it is connected to the widow’s husband, but I doubt it.  After all, one of the early lines in this so-called movie is that terrible things happen every day.  In a city as large as New York, the chances for people to be involved in separate awful moments is higher than it would be elsewhere.  This makes life difficult to navigate, something that appears to affect Wendy more than the others, though Claire might disagree.  Either way, this Catholic notes that none of them have Faith to help them through these struggles.  This is not to suggest that Christianity is a magic wand that makes all band things go away.  That is not a realistic way of looking at our fallen world, one that is full of wounded people looking to further wound themselves or others.  That is a fancy way of saying life is messy, and if this supposed movie does anything well, it is to show a variety of forms of that messiness.  However, understanding that God is with us through all of it can provide a foundation to help weather all storms, whether it be questioning one’s sexuality or not being able to get a girl to go out with you.  At the same time, there are a few actions taken by some of these characters that can broadly be called Christian.  The first is Janet, who accepts Ray’s apology.  One could argue that it is only because of Lester’s efforts, but I got the impression that she is forgiving regardless.  The other is Claire.  She is trying to discern what is her best vocation, something that Catholics are encouraged to do when they are young adults.  Indeed, her brief experience as a reporter can be likened to the “come and see” retreats convents sometimes put on to see if woman would be interested in becoming nuns.  It is not the best comparison, but it is as good as I can get out of these proceedings.

My recommendation with Person to Person is to proceed to another title if you happen upon it while scrolling through Netflix.  There is nothing especially offensive about it.  What makes it aggravating is that these various stories have nothing to do with one another aside for them all happening on the same day in New York.  You could get the same film by spending time on a park bench in any major city.