Wendall and the Lemon
Slamdance Film Festival
Director: Lawrence Krauser

Spolier alert: Wendell’s relationship with the lemon is more than platonic. Going into Krauser’s film, which is based on his 2002 novel Lemon, I had an inkling that this would be the case and, though the film fell into some sour moments, I was pleasantly surprised. Wendell (Todd D’Amour) picks up the lemon on the street, shortly after a breakup, and he quickly incorporates the lemon into his daily routine. He’s cast as a sort of neurotic, overly anxious character, also adopting an eye patch to cover a twitching eye—though he can’t remember which eye has the problem. His relationship with the lemon gets serious pretty fast—he takes it on dates, brings it to work and snuggles with it in bed. As his co-workers notice his obsession, things start to unravel … er, unpeel … and Wendell skirts around the idea that the lemon is an unhealthy part of his life and attempts to destroy it, though no method seems final enough. I spent hours trying to figure out what the lemon stood for. Your guess is as good as mine, but don’t let that stop you from checking out this zestful film. –Christian Schultz

3/5 stars