neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Dopamine
	Mark Decena John Livingston, Sabrina Lloyd, Bruno Campos, Reuben Grundy, William Windom, Nicole Wilder, Kathleen Antonia 2003		What's known as chemistry between people, that invisible impetus to pursue a romantic and/or sexual relationship, is more than a figure of speech. The human organism can be affected by chemicals that the body produces to stimulate attraction and create a gooey feeling of delirium and desire in another. The feel-good chemical produced when people fall in love provides the title to "Dopamine," a talky, independent film built around the notion of affinity on a molecular level. Although set in temblor-prone San Francisco, it's nothing earth-shaking. Instead, it ambles from the agreeable to the pallid, as two damaged souls, Rand and Sarah, are drawn to one another and try to get past mutual wariness to build a relationship. "Dopamine" was made by first-time director Mark Decena with the full support of the Sundance Film Festival. Decena also co-wrote the script, which was probably in the works for a while, since Rand is a computer animator/software designer at a modest S.F. start-up that's beholden to fickle financiers. The situation is almost too Dot-Com Boom to take, but John Livingston as reticent Rand and Sabrina Lloyd (TV's "Sports Night") as tart Sarah are people that you may care about. A little.