Our Review

      Movie: THE STRESS IS KILLING ME

               Rating:  R, language and some                               sexual material

                      Length: 1:43

           Release Date: February 28, 2025

Jeanne: A light and breezy comedy, THE STRESS IS KILLING ME has little if any substance, but it does offer a few amusing moments. Written, directed and produced by Tom Carroll, the story revolves around eight friends from the University of New Mexico gathering for their 20th reunion.

 

Sue (April Hartman) and Todd Boyd (Theron LaFountain) rented a large house with a pool for the occasion, hoping to convince the other six to stay for a week following the reunion. After a little wrangling they manage to convince everyone that this is a fantastic idea. After the very first shared dinner, while kibitzing over wine, it becomes apparent that none of these people are thrilled with their chosen careers.

 

Kiki Martin (Carly Christopher), a lawyer, is the first to admit she’s not entirely happy, then the others chime in. When Sue asks what they would do if they could change direction, each member of the group has a ready answer.

 

Kiki wants to be a yoga instructor, Sue would love to be a teacher, Todd wants to be a movie director, Jason (Grayson Berry), a marketing guru, would rather be a detective and Will (Barry Landers) owns a string of restaurants but doesn’t cook, so he wants to be a chef. Marcie (Lisa Lucas) is dying to be a sex therapist, Paul (Matthew Page) thinks he would make a wonderful priest and Donna (Crystal Thomas), who’s a doctor, fancies herself an artist.

 

Since they have a week together, the eight friends decide to try out their dream jobs, with very mixed results. Some of the antics provided by Carroll are hilarious. Will’s first attempt at cooking is a complete fail. The group pretends to enjoy his fare but dumps it and orders a bunch of pizzas. And others, like Marcie trying to counsel Sue and Todd on their sex lives, are silly and/or not funny.

The cast truly gives their all to make THE STRESS IS KILLING ME work. It’s apparent that they were having a blast while filming and their chemistry together is real, making it believable that they were all friends in college 20 years ago. But there is only so much to be done with Carroll’s screenplay.

 

The premise has promise, but the dialogue isn’t as snappy as it could have been. Some of the scenes, such as the group trying to do yoga were pretty funny, while others, especially Todd attempting to direct a movie, fall flat.

 

While David didn’t particularly enjoy THE STRESS IS KILLING ME, he didn’t fall asleep either, so there’s that. I enjoyed it for what it is --- a gathering of friends renewing those bonds that brought them together in the first place.

 

The film will have its world theatrical premiere on Friday February 28, 2025, at the Landmark Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles and run for a week in the lead-up to the March 7th digital and streaming release.

 

Opinion: Wait for VOD

David: A college reunion 20 years after graduation places eight people together in a rented home. After the usual storytelling and reminiscing in THE STRESS IS KILLING ME, the friends decide to do something unusual. They each announce a dream career other than what they are currently doing, and the objective is to play this new persona and interact with the reunion group for the week they are together.

 

Writer/director Tom Carroll has assembled a somewhat appealing group of actors, the standout being Carly Christopher as Kiki, the attorney who wants to be a yoga instructor. She also harbors feelings for her college boyfriend, Jason (Grayson Berry), with whom she broke up those many years ago. That subplot has some intrigue.

Most of the proceedings, however, do not result in many laughs. One scenario that is amusing features Will (Barry Landers), the owner of five restaurants who says he can’t cook, preparing a couple of meals for the group. Their reaction is quite funny when they taste his culinary efforts.

 

However, I didn’t find the overall writing by Carroll particularly funny or clever. Jeanne laughed way more than I did, but as I’ve said in the past --- much to my own peril --- she is easily amused. This is a movie for a rainy day when you might be looking for something different to watch.

 

The film will have its world theatrical premiere on Friday February 28, 2025, at the Landmark Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles and run for a week in the lead-up to the March 7th digital and streaming release.

 

Opinion: Mild Wait for VOD