“Sunset Stories” is a humorous tribute to Los Angeles and its diverse Echo Park/Silverlake communities. The story follows former Los Angeleno May (Monique Curnen), in her journey back home to retrieve bone marrow for a transplant. Soon after May’s trip begins, her mission is up-ended when she has a serendipitous run-in with into ex-lover JP (Sung Kang), whom she abandoned years ago when his musical success seemed to stall. May and JP are drawn to each other, but struggle to heal old wounds. Ultimately, they find redemption through their joint efforts to retrieve May’s stolen bone marrow.
Writers Ernesto Foronda and Valerie Stadler craft an authentic LA story about a Hollywood couple’s lives intersecting those of an assortment of Angelenos, including a street actor played by Jim Parsons (“Big Bang Theory”) and queer drag queen played by Justin Vivian Bond. The pacing is slow. There are no earth-shattering conflicts or action sequences to heighten the film’s drama quotient. But directors Silas Howard and Foronda, who spotlight Los Angeles’ unique architectural and cultural diversity, move the film along. Scenes shot in iconic locales in Silverlake/Echo Park, and Hollywood make the city a plot device as much as the characters are.
Howard and Foronda, who met while screening their own films at Sundance in 2003, vividly capture the high noon stroll along Sunset Boulevard for tacos and the impromptu pit-stop at the Silverlake Lounge, looking for something or someone just out of reach. These flourishes add depth to the story, insuring that the ethnically diverse cast of characters are placed in an engaging and authentic visual context.
“We wanted to tell our stories,” the filmmakers said in an interview with Desiree T. Washington at popdecay.us regarding their impetus for making the film. “We wanted to showcase the diversity of the city.” “Sunset Stories” succeeds on that front in large part because of Kang and Curnen’s acting chops and chemistry. They are convincing as ex-lovers and sympathetic as characters.
“Sunset Stories” screened at Outfest 2012 and SXSW.