Even though it stars Dax Shepard, who is famous for making movies like When In Rome and Employee of the Month, The Freebie is not at all your typical romantic comedy. Directed by and starring Katie Aselton, who cut her teeth as an actress in tiny-budget mumblecore movies like The Puffy Chair and Scrapple, The Freebie is a small-scale exploration of monogamy and relationships centered around a single high-concept idea: what if each person in the relationship got the night off to sleep with whoever they wanted?
The results are even more poignant and thought-provoking than you're imagining, and luckily the first trailer for the movie-- which I caught at Sundance and loved-- doesn't mask the films small scale and rough edges. It's a comedy but also contains painful truths, and two truly great performances at the center to keep it all going forward. Check out the trailer below and catch The Freebie when it opens in New York on September 17 or later in the fall as it expands wider.
