The
idea was for Lucian to chill out with his uptight girlfriend Elizabeth and his
well-heeled pal Andrew, at the latter’s family vacation home while on break
from Yale. Unfortunately, they arrive finding Andrew’s sister Miranda and her
parasite boyfriend Gerald are already there, drinking and bickering like
characters in an early draft of a Tennessee Williams play. Andrew bails almost
immediately and Elizabeth will soon follow him. She is especially keen to leave
when she apparently catches Lucian in a somewhat compromising position with
Miranda.
Realizing
what a drag Gerald is, she finally gives the supposed painter the heave-ho.
According to Miranda, he left in a snit, but Lucian starts to suspect Gerald
has returned to play petty mind games with them. The prime evidence is a large
unfinished nude study of Miranda that someone has steadily worked on since his
departure. That actually might be a decent device for generating suspense if
there was any sense of danger in Backgammon
(aside from the very real possibility someone might develop cirrhosis of
the liver). Instead, Orvañanos strangely opts to avoid any such tacky thriller
elements.
As
a result, it is hard to say just what Backgammon
is supposed to be. There is a fair degree of tension, but it is mostly
rooted in the characters’ obsessive hang-ups. Consider it a peak into the
privileged world of the rich and neurotic. They certainly make middle class
respectability look appealing.
