“I feel old,” Rich (Stanford) whines to his longtime girlfriend Sam (Melissa Sagemiller) upon discovering a gray hair days before the wedding of their school chums Michael (Garcia) and Elise (Adams). And why shouldn’t he? Four years have passed since the argyle haze of their college years—which are summarized for us courtesy of a giddy Dave Matthews--fueled montage in the opening credits—and it seems there’s no one in this group who isn’t having an existential crisis.
Self-revelatory monologues abound as the couples’ extended circle awkwardly reunites in Los Angeles for a boozy prewedding bash. The quirky gang includes lovelorn Pockets (Abrahams), sauce-loving movie star Simon (Van Der Beek), juvie weight-loss guru Donovan (Embry) and Paxil-popping Lana (Suvari), who has slept with all three. We’re rapidly let in on plot twists involving unplanned pregnancy, lesbian awakenings, statutory rape, the tense return of the groom’s estranged dad and other complications that need to be resolved before Michael and Elise can begin their life of connubial bliss. And not surprisingly, most of them are. Granted, Standing Still’s transition-to-adulthood theme may be hackneyed—and some of its more earnest moments come off as schmaltzy—yet the Swiss-quartz comic timing of the film’s ensemble cast makes its neurotic characters more compelling than your average cinematic slackers. (Opens Fri; AMC Empire 25.)—Erin Clements