Though it’s being sold as a “romantic comedy about premature ejaculation,” Bruce Sweeney’s Excited is far more of a relationship drama than it is about the lead’s sexual problems.

Kevin is a successful business owner who has put his life on hold to grow his business. Sadly and as is often the case, wok seems to be the only thing going right for him. He’s incapable of keeping a relationship alive and allows his family, led by his overpowering mother, to control his life. In an effort to help him break out of a dating slump, his brother sets him up with Hayaam and almost immediately she begins to change Kevin’s life.

Though on the surface Sweeney’s film is a comedy of relationship and sexual mistakes covering everything from the premature ejaculation to the motherly intervention, it’s what is under the surface, the discussions about children, family and what one wants and expects from relationships, that makes Excited a great film.

Cam Cronin is excellently cast as Kevin, a guy who is handsome and obviously smart but not completely unattainable which helps keep the film’s story grounded on the realistic side of a “romcom” rather than the typical Hollywood glamor which makes stories of this type unbelievable. Though he fills the role well, it’s the wonderful Gabrielle Rose who steals the show. Rose is a fabulous actress but I’ve particularly come to love her roles over the last few years, roles which are small but which allow her to play strange and/or twisted characters. She continues her scene stealing track record here, sucking the air out of every scene she’s in and drawing the attention of the audience, sometimes not even speaking a word. This woman is seriously underrated.

Excited has the trappings of a successful indie film: it looks great (the Vancouver setting is beautiful if a tad depressing with all of the rain), sports great performances and a smart story but I’m afraid selling the film as a comedy is doing it a great disservice, one which will likely kill the film. Though funny, this is more of a drama than a comedy and viewers going in for a barrel of laughs are likely to be disappointed.

Smart, funny and authentic, Excited is exactly the kind of relationship drama one wants to see, one which feels authentic and real but which never loses sight of the fact that it also needs to be entertaining.

See VIFF screening schedule for show times.