Critic's Grade: B+

"There's no room for honesty in a healthy relationship," maintains one of the characters in "XX/XY," a film that doesn't cover any new ground in terms of the material it deals with, and really doesn't need to. As is the case with most movies, we know that when more than one sexual partner becomes involved in a relationship, there's going to be some sort of trouble. When Coles Burroughs (Mark Ruffalo) arrives in town and hooks up with Sam (Maya Stange) and her best friend Thea (Kathleen Robertson)- at the same time, mind you- things seem okay amongst the frivolous threesome. That is, until Coles and Sam start dating exclusively, leading to bouts of jealousy and misunderstanding that eventually causes the separation of the trio until ten years later, after each of them has become involved in a new life with someone else. And when old feelings begin to surface, confusion reigns for all involved.

The storyline is pretty basic, with a straightforward structure that unfurls in exactly the manner you would expect. We know from the get-go the complications that will arise when these friends come together as adults, but what's interesting is watching how they have (or haven't) matured into adults. The most intriguing of the characters is Coles, who finds himself torn between his new love, Claire (Petra Wright), and his resurfacing feelings for Sam, who is also uncertain about their rekindled friendship. Since most of the characters are caricatures of previous movies, it's up to the cast to give life to familiar roles; thankfully enough, the efforts of Ruffalo, Stange, Robertson, and Wright pay off exquisitely, with results that keep us in the moment even as we sense the overall outcome. They add a strong air of humanity to a movie that would otherwise be stagnant, offering glimpses of happiness, pain, love, and strife in full, uninhibited form. "XX/XY" may not exactly be original, but through its performers, it exudes resonance just the same.

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