We live in a media culture which constantly insists that we should look and feel better than we do. We try to mimic the images we see, but it's an impossible task.
Obviously, you can never reach your ideal; no one is ever exactly the way they think they should be. Show me a perfectly chiseled bodybuilder and I'll show you someone who can instantly pinpoint their own problem areas.
Andrew Bujalski's Results is a surprising little romantic comedy that never goes where you expect, even as it creates a story built on a triad of characters striving to be better -- in some way. As Bujalski seems well aware, there's who you think you want to be and who you really are. The distance between those two points is where things get interesting.
The story focuses on Trevor (Guy Pearce) and Kat (Cobie Smulders). Trevor, an Australian, owns a gym in Austin, Texas, called Power 4 Life, and when he starts explaining what the "4" stands for, step back: He's well-launched into his pitch about expanding from a single gym to a chain that would make him the Jack LaLanne of mind/body/spirit fusion.
Kat is one of his most popular trainers but a bit of a head case: She's got a quick temper, particularly when it comes to clients who decide to stop training. She and Trevor are kind of a couple, though he's so involved with his business plans and his own training regimen that Kat assumes he wants to keep things casual, which also sets her off.
The story's catalyst is Danny (Kevin Corrigan), a walk-in to the gym who wants to learn "to take a punch."
This review continues on my website.