What do you get when you cross a marriage-phobic guy with his little brother who gets engaged after less than 24 hours of meeting someone? You get “You Did What?” a romantic comedy by Jeff Morris that will be showing at the Tahoe-Reno International Film Festival. The festival runs Aug. 23-27 at the Resort at Squaw Creek.

The film follows Charlie Porter, the aforementioned marriage phobe. Charlie’s life is thrown into chaos when his flighty younger brother announces his impending marriage to a woman he’s known for about a day. This leads Charlie’s girlfriend of two years, the insanely patient Ashley, to wonder why she and Charlie aren’t headed down the aisle themselves. As wedding plans persist and his girlfriend’s parents get involved in the discussion, Charlie finds himself the focus of too many questions about his bachelorhood. Will he or won’t he give into pressure and his feelings? That’s the central plot behind this sweet, funny, sometimes predictable but always enjoyable new film.

The film is making the rounds of local film festivals this year, showing at about 20 festivals, including the Tahoe-Reno International Film Festival, and taking awards at many. Morris wrote and directed the film, which is loosely based on his own struggles with the “m” word. Morris’ wife, actress Kathy Wagner, plays Ashley in the film, so art continues to imitate life. Wagner plays the role like it was tailor-made ... but even better. She’s completely sympathetic and torn as the girl destined to be forever a bridesmaid. Wagner and Ed Kerr, who plays the hapless Charlie, have an easy chemistry that feels like they’ve been together two years and still like each other, if not everyday.

The supporting cast includes Susan Ruttan of “LA Law” fame as Charlie’s hippie mom, A.J. Buckley, who has recurring roles on “CSI New York” and “Supernatural,” plays Charlie’s troublemaking brother Greg and Jason George who stars on UPN’s “Eve” plays Charlie’s well-meaning best friend. All the characters are colorful (some maybe a bit too, like Ashley’s dad who is a tad over the top) and the actors are well-suited to their roles. Casting this must have been fun, because it shows in the energy the actors bring to their performances.

“You Did What?” play at 10 p.m. on Aug. 23 at the Resort at Squaw Creek. The festival’s theme this year is the lofty “Celebrating the Human Spirit,” and while many of the films deal with social themes, http://www.youdidwhatthemovie.com/">“You Did What?” is a lighter break, and one well-worth taking. To buy tickets, go to the festival’s Website http://filmguide.t-riff.org/tixSYS/2006/filmguide/title-detail.php?Range=TZ&ShowShorts=Y&ShowPast=Y"> here. For other festival information, go to T-RIFF's main site http://www.t-riff.org/">
here.