Review: In ‘Burning Bodhi,’ the focus on a friend shifts to all about ‘me’

In “Burning Bodhi,” estranged high school friends reconvene in their hometown of Albuquerque after the death of their friend Bodhi and pay homage to his spirit with a “fun”-eral. Clearly taking inspiration from “The Big Chill,” the film, by writer-director Matthew McDuffie, hangs out with young twentysomethings who have a deep, tangled history of sexual indiscretions, breakups, make-ups and missed opportunities.

Dylan (Landon Liboiron) is the ostensible lead, but two of the women who orbit him, punky lesbian pal Ember (Cody Horn) and his grime-glam druggie ex, Katy (“Big Bang Theory’s” Kaley Cuoco), are the far more magnetic characters. Dylan’s strained relationship with his parents (Virginia Madsen and Andy Buckley), who have recently reunited, complicates matters, not to mention the arrival of his current girlfriend, Lauren (Meghann Fahy).

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Dylan does much soul-searching about his past and juvenile philosophizing about death, but it’s less about Bodhi than about himself. For being the reason that the group reunited, Bodhi gets lost in the shuffle, and we, unfortunately, learn nothing about him but a whole lot about everyone else’s feelings.

The characters often communicate through extended texts, which are simply presented as subtitles. Without an interesting visual component, these conversations become cinematically inert. The cinematography, by David J. Myrick, is lovely and luminous, but the story itself lacks insight or deep emotion.

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“Burning Bodhi.”

MPAA rating: R, for drug use, language and some sexual references.

Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica.