Reviews

I really wanted to like this movie a lot ... and I applaud every one involved simply for getting it made and clearly working very hard to make it a good movie.

There were some very funny bits and I sat through the whole movie (i have no qualms about walking out of a theater). I warmed to the two main characters as the movie progressed.

The music had a very Tom Waits kind of feel to match the black and white photography. A little too funky overall.

But there were some bits that were so irritating - the scene on the subway after the argument, the scenes with the friend and his soon-to-be-fiancé, the marriage proposal itself, the shoe shots, the ending ... that they kind of tainted the whole film experience for me.

At least they weren't hipsters ... i guess that's a plus. I hate to knock the movie ... I am sure the next one by the writer/director will be a lot better. It's not a bad movie, per se ... maybe they were just trying a little too hard.

I know we all hate bogus "Hollywood" happy endings, but this movie had the opposite: a contrived and very ugly and dark ending.

Those of you who do not think so probably do not have children. But the scene in the hospital where Andy tells his father that he was sorry and Charles tells him it's okay and touches his head - that was plausible and real, and extremely moving and suddenly gave all the horror that had proceeded much weight ... the sorrow and pain that actually can happen in a person's life. As implausible as the rest of the movie was, carried by the great acting, his forgiving there, for the moment, was an amazing turn, and brought tears to my eyes.

However, to have him then so calculatedly and coldly (putting the monitors on his own chest, etc.) KILL his own son conveyed an anger and a hatred which would have, in real life, masked all grief. And up to that time, he had been simply grief-stricken.

It would be nearly impossible for a man to kill his own son, no matter what he did. I know it could happen, but the forgiving, no matter how painful, was much more real.

So the ending was a lie, calculated to shock. It diminished everything, including the audience. I saw it in Berkeley, with an older sophisticated audience, and I don't think people liked it. I kept apologizing to my friends for suggesting the movie. They both agreed the ending was gratuitous and false.

Avoid this movie forever. I don't care how good the acting is.

(Added June 28, 2008): I see that only 13 out of 28 people have found my comment of use. I guess the production company has a bunch of paid trolls to come and down-rate honest comments from non-shill movie viewers. I have found over time that my distaste for this abomination has grown. Not only that, I was reading Andy Warhol's Diaries the other day and he made a crack about Lumet back in the eighties ... Andy could always see through no- talent bullshit (at least I agree with him nearly 100% of the time).

I repeat my original comment: this movie is one of the most dishonest pieces of cr*p ever released. How the people praising this movie can overlook the fact the the father drives right in front of the Ethan Hawke character in the parking lot in front of the jewelry store and Hawke doesn't notice it is beyond me: they are demonstrating the kind of intelligence Hollywood relies upon when creating movies with plot holes/contradictions you could drive a truck through: in other words, total stupidity. And that is just the beginning of this travesty.

The only reason I'm giving this a 3 is because the bad guy was so good ... Cassel.

Jennifer Aniston is not sexy, could not be sexy, never will be sexy & just doesn't have what it takes to be the nasty seductress con she is supposed to be in this movie. She is the eternal somewhat cute nice girl next door, i'm afraid.

Everything about this movie is contrived and rings false the day after watching (at my girlfriend's, who rented it). I am thinking a lot of cocaine might have been consumed during story meetings.

Someone else mentioned how good the music was - I found it way too intrusive and calling attention to itself. Great movie music does not do that.

I was enjoying the movie up to the point where the co-worker is killed in the cab, and then the sparkling clean hooker shows up, followed by some really dumb cops ... this movie had just jumped the shark.

As far as the high ratings here ... these must be planted by professional PR people, the writing is too clear, the spelling too good to have been posted by some couch potato with the brains of a turnip - the only possible type of viewer who could rate this waste of time highly.

I was half-enjoying this movie on cable TV until we got to the scene where Liam (who is apparently a chronic farter in the movie) is getting some kind of enema action from Sandra Bullock ... she has some squeeze-bulb action going on ... and the music playing is "It's a Man's World" by James Brown ... this is an abomination. It is blasphemy. It is a crime.

What unbelievable bad taste. Imagine that, coming out of Hollywood.

i don't have much more to say, but I guess IMDb doesn't allow short, succinct posts. so blah blah blah watched the Cockettes documentary today, found a great andy warhol superstar website, played with new kitties, cooked dinner ... this should fill it out enough ...

and I hope the children of the man responsible for putting James Brown in a Sandra Bullock enema scene live in interesting times.