To the list of memorable movies set in the City of Angels—beginning with Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce in the 40s and going up to such recent films as LA Confidential and Collateral—you can add Alex Holdridge’s delectable romantic comedy, In Search of a Midnight Kiss.  Made on a much lower budget than any of these earlier ventures, Holdridge’s movie nevertheless manages to paint a vivid and original picture of Los Angeles.  Filmed in luminous black and white in some of the decaying and seductive sections of downtown LA, the movie benefits from a marvelous sense of place.

The visual allure of this movie is an unexpected complement to the wit and intelligence of the script.  The film opens with a burst of profane humor, as Wilson (Scoot McNairy) is interrupted by two pals while masturbating  The dialogue in the film is often hilariously filthy, but the film proves to have a soulfulness that you don’t find in the work of most contemporary raunchmeisters (including the prolific Mr. Apatow).

Wilson is spanking the monkey because he finds himself in the dilemma that most of us have faced at one time or another—alone and lovelorn on New Year’s Eve.  When his roommate Jacob (Brian Matthew McGuire) suggests that he place an ad on Craigslist, Wilson seems bent on defeat; the copy he posts is “Misanthrope seeks misanthrope.”  Surprisingly, he fields a number of desperate responses, and he arranges a meeting with Vivian (the lovely Sara Simmonds), who initially seems as if she might be the date from hell.  As these two wary misanthropes explore the city and each other over the next 24 hours, the film grows into an incisive study of loneliness and longing.

McNairy and Simmonds both give appealing performances, and they have unmistakable chemistry.  The gangly McGuire provides the comic relief, but he also exudes a touch of poignancy when he proposes to a girlfriend who clearly doesn’t have the same passion for him that he feels for her.  The film is wise to the many pitfalls of romance.  While Wilson and Vivian eventually discover a deeper rapport than first impressions promised, Holdridge ruefully recognizes the obstacles to any lasting connection between them.  In the end the film might be described as Brief Encounter for the wi-fi age, and it has the same heartbreaking pathos as that David Lean classic, embellished with rude humor and visual élan.