Within the first ten minutes of writer/director Kyle Patrick Alvarez's Easier With Practice, we are witness to unpublished novelist Davy Mitchell (played by Brian Geraghty) having phone sex with a complete stranger while in a hotel room on a book tour. After finishing the deed, he gently cleans himself off with a sock. While Alvarez wisely chooses to shoot this scene from the chest up, its still downright uncomfortable to watch. I bring up the explicit opening of Easier With Practice because, in the grand scheme of things, it's a fairly deceiving opening. Deceiving in that this particular scene might lead one to believe their about to watch an entry in the American Pie series. Actually, Easier With Practice turns out be something so much more. It is a film about sex, but its also a poignant look into the life of a man who is so socially awkward, that intimacy and love completely elude him.

Through a strange but oddly meaningful relationship with someone he's never actually met, Davy's life opens up in ways he never thought possible. Matters are complicated however, when this odd and lonely writer reaches out in an attempt to meet his potential soul mate.

Brian Geraghty is positively outstanding in this movie. As the complicated Davy, this terrific actor (who also excels in the recently released The Hurt Locker) brings an awkward vulnerability to the role, and at times, he reminded me a bit of a restrained version of Crispin Glover (if there is such a thing).

Kyle Patrick Alvarez brings an incredibly insightful edge to the proceedings. His screenplay, based on Davy Rothbart's autobiographical article for GQ, is sharp, heartfelt, and honest. He's created a funny, observant little film, and his use of close-ups bring to mind the works of Jonathan Demme, particularly during the outstanding final act when an unexpected encounter at a diner finds an emotional Davy handling a most awkward situation with maturity and class. Easier With Practice won the Jury Prize at CineVegas 2009 and it was more than worthy of the honor.