I had rented Flannel Pajamas and the wife and I were watching it. We enjoyed the film a lot. Now, I'm a pretty sharp tack for detail and during one scene in this movie there is an exchange of a phone number it was a "212" phone number and it wasn't the typical "555-1234" kind of phone number. No, it was a very realistic phone number. So I backed up the DVD and got a pen and paper. I wrote the number down and grabbed my phone on my nightstand. I dialed the phone number and a man answered. I was in shock and I said "hi is this Jeff"? Guy on the phone- "yeah, who is this"-, Me- "I'm watching your movie and your phone number was in the scene" Jeff Lipsky- "click".Well, not so friendly guy I must admit. I'd be willing to forgive him for not pointing out that I cracked his 'easter egg'.. Hey no problem.. maybe he was expecting someone else?? Anyway as I was hoping.. I'd gladly forgive Jeff if he would give me a fitting role in his next film.. Hey Jeff call me at 914 310 3093 LOL- That's my 'real' phone number!!! Gerard

I just caught this movie last night on IFC. I found it totally engrossing and liked it very much, although I can't quite say why. All I know is that with its quiet realism, this movie was the perfect example of why I prefer "indie"-type movies over blockbuster-type mainstream American films. To me, this movie had a theme very similar to the recent "500 Days of Summer." Although "500 Days" was more in a comedic vein, in both movies, the male lead - try as he might to get the female lead to love him (or stay in love with him) - ends up getting his heart broken. Flannel Pajamas is about the quick spark but ultimate disintegration of a relationship. It had no readily recognizable climax; in fact, I spent most of the two hours tensely waiting for one, but the fact that one never materialized only served to underscore that real life often does not contain such obvious turning points. In particular, I kept expecting Stuart to have an emotional meltdown - on the heels of both his brother's suicide and his wife's departure - but that never really happens (although the heart-wrenching scene in Times Square of Stuart watching from the sidelines as a child happily runs into the arms of his waiting father comes pretty close). Some of the reviews I've read on this site speak of neither character being "likeable." To the contrary, I liked Stuart very much. From the way he is introduced in the opening scenes, I expected not to like him, but by film's end, I was scratching my head as to why any woman would want to leave a man who is handsome, rich, thoroughly in love with her, and eager to please her in every way. In contrast, I found Nicole flaky, utterly selfish and impossible to please. The fact that she whines over Stuart's never actually having said "I do" at their wedding made me want to gag. And the fact that she chided him for never wanting to hold hands anymore - this when he just tenderly takes her hand - made me want to slap her. More significantly, the fact that she would intentionally try to get pregnant despite her prior agreement with Stuart to wait two years is one of the most under-handed things I can imagine taking place in a relationship. Much is made of Nicole's dysfunctional family, a family marked by divorce and abuse. Perhaps this is the root of her inability to maintain a stable relationship. It must be, as I find no fault with the sympathetic Stuart. To me, Stuart is the aggrieved character here; it broke my heart to see him so broken-hearted. I must say I was baffled by the last scene of Stuart being brought to laughter by the sight of a pinwheel. The movie would have benefited greatly from the opportunity for that final "Aha!" moment, but alas one was not forthcoming.

I was really looking forward to this movie, especially after the amazing montage trailer set to the beautiful "Thursday" by Asobi Seksu. Unfortunately, that song and Justin Kirk are the ONLY good things about this film. From the first scene, this movie fails. The dialogue is terribly, terribly written ("Camels are what I smoke; Bacardi is what I drink; and the unemployment office is where I hang out"???) and nary a character is interesting or believable.But for me, by far the worst thing about the film is the Nicole character. Her actions throughout are incredibly selfish. Who would accept $15,000 from a brand new boyfriend at the very beginning of a relationship? Similarly, she is only too happy (once they are married) to quit her job and blow through thousands of dollars of Stuart's savings to start a catering "business" that we never see any evidence of after a single scene in which she is preparing "her first catering job." She demands a dog even though her husband is allergic and hates them. She essentially leaves her husband because he doesn't want a kid within the first two years of marriage -- a pretty reasonable limitation that he discussed with her and SHE AGREED TO before they were married! Good lord! Throughout this movie, the characters are utterly unreal. She celebrates getting fired from a job. He sits calmly at the table with his mother-in-law and enlists her as an ally not three minutes after her anti-Semitic diatribe. The whole thing is just laughable and interminable. What a waste of time and the $5 rental fee. Ugh.

Treat yourself to a cinematic love affair via the extremely personal, impressively detailed romantic drama Flannel Pajamas. In what is surely one of the most perceptive and intelligent scripts to emerge this decade detailing the intense highs and lows of a relationship, viewers are treated to an insiders look at the birth, fruition and eventual apathetic demise into one of the most richly detailed and believable love stories recently released. Credit the realistic script from director Jeff Lipsky, and two stellar, honest and open lead performances from Justin Kirk and Julianne Nicholson for skyrocketing this modest indie production into the history books of romantic cinema.In detailing the exquisitely realized courtship, Lipsky's script (occasionally clunky and verbose amongst a majority of truthful ranting) taps into both harmonizing and colliding mentalities with equal passion and resonance, coming across as if were actually penned by two extremely intimate lovers. The amazing comfort these two leads bring to the table only helps bring the richly detailed dialog past the point of a petty fictionalization, and almost let's the viewer live vicariously through their most intimate moments in a completely engaging and believable manner. These characters may not be fleshed out to the satisfaction of some viewers and may remain irrelative to even more, yet the objective analysis this filmmaker has dedicated into studying the mechanics behind their vested interest remains unshakable. Of course, most films would be not be complete without some flaws, and for all the sheer integrity invested in portraying the sanctity of this partnership in a truthful light, the small budget feature does become bogged down with subplot's, supporting characters, and a weary conclusion that does not quite know how to finalize itself.Suffering from your typical "third act syndrome", Flannel Pajamas follows a captivating lover's arc into a final act that betrays the intense honesty and character integrity found throughout for a resolution that feels ambiguous at best, and a closing scene that feels entirely unintuitive. Still, more mature, dialog-driven viewers will be hard pressed to find anything as substantial in the way of an honest love story told in the most human way possible that has come out in recent memory, which more then makes up for a weak conclusion.