Natural Causes is the story about a relationship, and is punctuated by numerous one-liners and humorous scenes to add some much-needed levity, but it is not your average romantic comedy.
The romance in Natural Causes is presented in a series of slices. Nearly every one holds a biting, often awkward core of truth that anyone who has been through a relationship will recognize. While they are nearly universal themes, these are the things we rarely talk about, and rarely see on screen: the awkward coldness of a conversation in which one of the participants is too distracted to care, or an attempt to displace relationship strife with lovemaking that fails after one half-hearted kiss. While these scenes can be a bit of a downer, audience members who have had similar experiences will find them almost comfortable despite their awkwardness, and bordering on nostalgic (provided the viewer is thinking back to a long-ago folly with perfect hindsight and not nursing a harrowing recent breakup).
You can do naught but root for the main characters as they travel the length and breadth of a multi-year relationship, knowing that the mistakes they make are sometimes classic, and that at the same time, they can do nothing else but make them. Where else but in a relationship are we each, one and all, seemingly destined to make the same mistakes over and over again? When all is said and done, even these mistakes can't be pointed to as the true reason for the couple's troubles. Indeed, some relationships simply meet their demise when their number is up.
The movie is well written and acted, especially by it's principle actors, Jerzy Gwiazdowski and Leah Goldstein. Filmed on a shoestring budget in record time, the sound and camera work does suffer in some places, especially in outdoor scenes and shots involving lots of movement. Overall, an excellent first offering from Cannon, Lerman and Cannon.
