Afternoon Delight

Afternoon Delight

The movie “Afternoon Delight” is an attempt to expose contemporary marriage and parenting. It does this by approaching but not dealing with them, or simply talking about these truths without going into much depth.

This is frustrating because I can see what Jill Soloway is trying to do with her first feature as writer-director. The longtime TV writer-producer (“Six Feet Under,” “United States of Tara”) creates a vividly specific Los Angeles life the upscale bohemian chic of Silver Lake and her stay at home mom heroine played by comic character actress Kathryn Hahn in a rare leading role says all the right things around the other mothers at her 5-year old son’s school. She signs up for all the activities, attends all the charity auctions and wine nights, has the right kind of soy cheese pizza waiting in the freezer for the babysitter to feed her kid.

Rachel (Hahn) lives in a spacious, impeccably decorated mid-century modern house with her successful entrepreneur husband Jeff (Josh Radnor of “How I Met Your Mother”). It’s good. They seem happy besides the infrequent sex that seems inevitable after so many years together. But still, she’s not miserable. Or so she thinks.

Something is gnawing at her pulling at her, driving her to change. We already know Rachel is neurotic and self-deprecating and hyper-analytical from regular sessions with an understated, underused Jane Lynch as her therapist. But Rachel makes a grand gesture by suggesting she and Jeff go on a field trip to a strip club with another couple; perhaps some lap dances will shake up their sex life?

The dance she receives from a perky little blonde named McKenna (Juno Temple) seems pretty perfunctory but stirs something deep within her anyway. (Following this summer’s “We’re the Millers,” this marks Hahn’s second recent outing as a proper mom who dares to explore her freaky side.)

Rachel finds herself ducking out of the usual daytime mommy dates to hang downtown near the club where McKenna works (under the ruse of visiting her favorite coffee truck, which she follows on Twitter; in small ways, “Afternoon Delight” is very much about Who We Are Now, which makes its eventual collapse all the more disappointing).

The daily coffees and walks and talks and cigarettes inspire Rachel to swoop in and save McKenna from a life of stripping including inviting her to come stay with Rachel and Jeff in the spare room that used to belong to their live in maid, much to Jeff’s shock. That first breakfast is amusingly awkward, with McKenna slinking around the kitchen in a tight T-shirt while Jeff casually drops words like “cacophonous” into conversation.

It’s a massively contrived situation but there’s just enough ambiguity about Rachel’s actions to keep you engaged: What is she doing? Is she bored? In need of a distraction from her own troubles? A little bi-curious? Or does she genuinely want to make a difference in someone else’s life? Rachel’s interest in McKenna recalls though not quite on par with “Desperately Seeking Susan”: bored housewife finds adventure (and purpose?) through a younger, free spirited woman who seems exciting but probably is trouble.

Rachel figures out how much of a mess McKenna is pretty quickly, but it doesn’t deter her. “Afternoon Delight” tiptoes into some dark and dangerous territory (and even goes there), with Rachel through her choice of Kris putting herself in situations that force her to figure out who she is and what she wants.

Despite the title, this is not a wacky sex romp (thank God), but rather a serious look at a woman and a marriage in flux, with some sprinklings of wry humor. McKenna, though, remains lovely and sexy no matter where you put her; Temple plays her more as an idea than a person.

Still: This can’t end well. We know this. But the big turn “Afternoon Delight” takes is jarring irreparable. Soloway invites us into this world with low-key rhythms and lived in details, then pushes us away with scenes that are screechy and melodramatic. And Hahn, who’s on screen the whole time, is strong in comically jittery mode but less adept when things get heavier.

Then again, the script asks a lot from her; it veers from an honest, open exploration to judgy cautionary tale. Here’s what I think I learned from it: Don’t invite a stripper to come live with you in your home. Suggestion noted.

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