String Theory

Kane and James’s middling latest collaboration (after Winging It) follows the romance between Ari Darvish, a successful Persian violinist, and Jax Hall, a white bartender, pianist, and PhD dropout. The pair meet-cute when Ari has a gig at the London, Ontario, bar where Jax works. When Ari’s pianist cancels, Jax accompanies Ari onstage—and their performance sparks a strong connection. As the men begin dating, Jax inspires Ari to work on his overdue album and comes to a decision about completing his PhD. But their relationship hits some snags from Ari’s parents, who disapprove of Jax after a meet-the-folks dinner goes horribly wrong. While the romance offers some passion, the drama of the story largely arises out of the parent-child relationships; both Ari and Jax contend with parental disappointment and this thread threatens to overtake the plodding romance. The result is an uneven and overlong contemporary that never quite sings. [em](July) [/em]