Honey Buddies
by Karen Pecota

The 2016 Slamdance Film Festival was the  perfect showcase for filmmaker, Alex Simmons' world premiere feature film Honey  Buddies. Thescreenplay is a unique collaboration with  writers/actors David Giuntoli and Flula Borg--also Simmons' former roommates.  Working together with close friends has its perks. For Simmons it produced one  of the funniest screenplays ever written. It's their ode to friendship and the  great outdoors.

The adventurous trek takes place on the last  portion of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition to the Oregon Coast. In  reference to the roommates screenplay debut, Simmons gives credit to passages  written in William Clark's diary describing his friendship with Meriwether  Lewis and the terrain they crossed during their expedition. Simmons says,  "Clark's words gave the Honey Buddies characters, David (David  Giuntoli) and Flula (Flula Borg) a sense of place in the long history of men  bonding as they battle the elements."

The Germans and Americans that understand each  other's cultures and can laugh at their own cultural idiosyncrasies; these  people will appreciate this film more than most. The script is eloquently  crafted for the pointed conversations needed for such a hilarious storyline  unobstructed by cultural boundaries.

Synopsis:

Just a few days before his wedding, David's  fiancé leaves him with no explanation. Shocked! Confused and devastated. David  is left to clean up the mess of their unresolved separation days before their  scheduled marital bliss and the beginning of a lifetime of growing old  together.

With much regret and embarrassment, David  manages to call all the wedding guests with the news, return most of the  wedding gifts and cancel all the appropriate services ordered that would have  made their special wedding day memorable. The only thing David could not cancel  was the honeymoon trek planned to spend on the last portion of the Lewis and  Clark expedition. David and his fiancé invested hours planning this  once-in-a-lifetime trek along the Oregon terrain to the Pacific Ocean.

David's friend and best-man-to-be, Flula (from  Germany) suggest that David not begrudge the fact that the trip is a loss.  Flula suggests that the two of them take the adventure to rid their minds of  the wedding tragedy. At first David is sickened by the thought of sharing the  trip meant for he and his fiancé with a friend from Germany that he hasn't been  around in a long time.

Flula's crazy upbeat personality wins David  over but more so is the fact that David could not get any monetary  reimbursement if he cancels the trip.

Flula and David set  out to experience Oregon's breathtaking mountainous terrain. Flula excited to  be on a journey with his good friend, and David bemoaning his sad situation.  The two are forced to deal with more than they bargain for when their paths  cross with strange mountain loners and wild animals who don't have their best  interest in mind. At stake is their friendship and their lives.