Tax Day

This confident debut feature from independent filmmaker Laura Colella is a spunky ode to leisure seen through the eyes of two women who venture out on a quick errand that turns into a day-long adventure. Providence residents and roommates Paula and Irene are off to the post office to send in their taxes when they get diverted by two young men who offer them a canoe ride through the downtown canals (shades of Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating). Seeing the city at this languid pace, from unusual angles (and with the sensual, evocative music of composer Josh Pearson as aural background), gives this normally hectic day a peaceable vibe -- who wouldn't want to spend April 15 strolling and chatting?

Writer/director Colella peoples her unusual odyssey with an interesting assortment of oddballs, eccentrics, and working stiffs -- cynical teens, street performers, recluses, couples on the verge of splitting up. Although Paula and Irene are not terribly interesting themselves, their interactions are. Reminiscing about their own experiences, catalyzed by their encounters with strangers, these two women pose a tantalizing question: sans deadlines, financial woes, work obligations, and personal responsibilities, how rich might our inner lives become?

-- Peg Aloi