Anchorage seems like a lovely place to live for Wendy (Dakota Fanning) in “The Sun Never Sets” until her friend Lindsay (Debby Ryan) announces that she’s having a baby. Suddenly, those mountains that are so glorious to look at as the two go on hikes together look far more daunting when Lindsay won’t have the time any more to climb them with her and it’s bound to get just as rocky back home where the comfortable relationship she has with her boyfriend Jack (Jake Johnson), having already ingratiated herself to his two kids from a previous marriage, no longer feels quite right when Alaska promised adventure and suddenly it seems like she’s settling down herself, having little room to roam. As tightly wound as she’s become, the latest from Joe Swanberg couldn’t come across as more relaxed, elegantly tucking into the romantic roundelay Wendy finds herself in when Jack suggests she take six months to date around before committing to a life with him.
From his roots shooting on handheld digital on such films as “Hannah Takes the Stairs” to the crisply composed 35mm presentation of “The Sun Never Sets,” the way Swanberg’s confidence has grown behind the camera and in the stories he tells are often evident from the very first frame and it’s simply a pleasure to watch his latest — and his first proper feature in nearly a decade following 2017’s “Win It All” — unfold, showing Wendy’s adventurous side from the start in looking to purchase a boat she can take out on the weekends. She can’t reasonably expect to be joined by Jack, who busies himself with staying active in his kids’ lives during his off-hours from a wealth management job, but to learn that Lindsay isn’t going to be available either places the pursuit of the modest yet already unaffordable cruiser ship even more out of reach. Jack may lack the daring and spontaneity that Wendy would really like in a partner, but she appreciates his stability and he clearly has the good sense to know where he comes up short, offering her a chance to look around for a stronger suitor when he can feel her uncertainty, yet sure she’ll return knowing the dating pool in these parts is small.
It would seem Jack’s right a few dates into the experiment that end with Wendy crying in her car, but when her old flame Chuck (Cory Michael Smith) enters the picture, back piloting air-taxis in Anchorage after flying off into the night years earlier, Jack starts to look a little more foolish when there’s no replacing Wendy in his life. The set-up for an old-fashioned farce could be obvious as Wendy has to weigh the very different qualities that Jack and Chuck offer as potential partners for the rest of her days, but “The Sun Never Sets” comes by both its narrative and humor naturally as Wendy shuttles from one end of town to the other, finding that when Chuck doesn’t want to go to an art gallery opening for her friend’s work, Jack is more than happy to support while Chuck will spend a day with her going camping when all Jack can think about is how much work it’ll take to pack up with his kids in tow. (Like the films of Paul Mazursky, who Swanberg acknowledged as a hero when dedicating his 2015 comedy “Digging for Fire” to him, the practicalities of behaving like you’re in a movie delightfully clash with what the reality holds.)
Rarely has Fanning been able to play a character as loose-limbed as Wendy and with the joy the role appears to have brought her, she does make it seem as if others have been missing out, reminding of her strong dramatic chops any time a subtle judgment passes across her face looking at the growing mess in front of her yet luxuriating in how transparent she must be as a bundle of nerves when the comedy calls for it. For all the talk in Swanberg films, characters never really have to explain themselves, but show who they are in their actions and both Johnson and Smith bring instant credibility to the parts that add to the overall breeziness of the film when the characters are so firmly established without endless exposition and while they can surprise with how they behave, it never seems far-fetched. Swanberg has also gotten really comfortable as the editor of his own work embracing an unusual rhythm, finding a happy medium between the expected entry and exit point of a scene and something slightly stranger that feels more lifelike in its imperfection. Yet the director has said that “The Sun Never Sets” grew out of an impulse not to become too comfortable and the restlessness felt from both behind and in front of the camera gives an extra electrical charge to a film where it may seem like everyone has champagne problems, yet channels a relatable anxiety of chasing greatness at the expense of what works perfectly fine that never goes away for anyone. Besides, here everyone’s drinking IPAs and Swanberg impressively makes some bitter pills about entering middle age go down just as smooth.
“The Sun Never Sets” does not yet have U.S. distribution.