Drinking Buddies is a rom-com set in and around a mid-Western craft brewery (actually Revolution Brewing).

You get mostly geek-y guys like Luke with baseball caps with peaks pulled forward ’cos what really turns ’em on is brewing beer. Luke has a cutes-y long-term girlfriend Jill, who’s got the nest-making thing. Luke doesn’t really pick up on vibes, (the story had me yelling at Luke a lot!) but he’s everybody’s pal. Kate is the face and voice of the brewery, organising receptions, tastings and beer festivals. She has a regular boyfriend Chris, but he’s a record producer. For most of the brewery team, social life carries on work life in a local bar. The story hinges on a weekend spent by these four upstate in a lakeside weekend hideaway together with their significant others and it proves who really belongs together and who doesn’t. As they say “Drink is a social lubricant” and makes the line between “friends” and “more than friends” a bit blurry.

Kate decides to move to a smaller flat and good ol’ Luke’s the one who fixes up a U-haul van to move her stuff—don’t really think Luke could stomach Kate’s chaotic domestic set-up long term. Luke rips his hand open on a nail when loading her sofa into the van and Kate doesn’t cope too well with the

first aid stuff (are those some of Kate’s knickers that improvise for a bandage?) As it’s not a predictable rom-com, Kate and Luke don’t end up together.

They don’t even kiss. And it’s truly heartening: being in a long term relationship doesn’t mean we stop being attracted to other people: we still meet many people throughout our lives with whom we have a bit of a crush and could even develop a healthy relationship, but we have to choose whom we want to commit ourselves to. Kate’s not what Luke wants to deal with daily for the rest of his life. He wants someone who is dependable, kind, and caring - that’s Jill, not the exciting Kate, maybe not so good in bed—he never got to know, Jill is someone he can care about forever.

The next day at work Kate and Luke circle awkwardly around oneanother but end up sitting at the same bench for lunch. They each offer oneanother food items before they crack a smile, and drink a beer.........

It’ll cost you around six quid brand new on the net and you can see a trailer at http://www.magpictures.com/drinkingbuddies Check the dvd cover against the movie to see who’s oddly clean-shaven.

Oh yes, and you get a free brewery tour of Revolution Brewing among the extras.