Reviews

What this production accomplishes in season 1 is so funny, compelling and from the heart that I can't believe that everyone in America isn't talking about it. It has just started streaming on Amazon Prime and my friends and I can't stop talking about how much we... 1. Love Huggette.

2. Love all of the supporting actors.

3. Are blown away by the risks taken in writing, direction and subtle but hilarious acting---and--- 4. How it ever got overlooked in the first place.

With so many attempts at dark comedy these days that land like a bowl of tapioca pudding on shag carpeting,---real, weird and engaging comedies that can honestly and accurately evoke a particular time and place should be seen and appreciated. This cast and crew has it in spades and the moment to moment brilliance of scene after scene is every bit as present as in the Fargo series. If you loved Juno Temple or Kirsten Dunst and their supporting casts Fargo, you will absolutely adore Marilyn Castonguay and her crew in Happily Married.

Hey college friends! I've got a great idea. Remember how scary the Blair Witch Project was? Well check this out. We do the same thing--but with Amish people!!! I kid you not, the script writes itself! I honestly hoped this would be, if not scary--at least interesting because it's a true story. Guess what? It's not. That's kind of a genius marketing scheme, but not only is it not a "true" story---it's not a very "good" story either. I feel sorry for the good people of Holmes County for having to endure these punks and I wish they would have foregone their peaceful nature and run them over with their fast horses and buggies.

It was entitled The Night That Never Ended, but probably would have been better titled "the explanation of how we learned that she had been killed that never ended." We really don't need to know every word that was said by everyone to everyone else involved, (before finding out that she has been killed) five times over. This has obvious undertones of wanting a single or two episode show to last a really long time. An amazingly interesting case where the telling of- turned quite boring before it had a chance to really get underway.

Wanted wanted wanted to like it and actually thought I would for about the first forty-five minutes. I thought that I was watching a beautiful telling of a weird but wonderful friendship and I time period and place I remember well (that second part was pretty well done, but this director knows how to make that happen--see--Boogie Nights). It seems that PT Anderson lost faith in that and shifted into bizarre scenes involving some name artists (really poorly done smaller role cameos-by Sean Penn, Tom Waits and Bradley Cooper) shortly after a wonderful scene with Gary introducing Alana to his agent (the actress who played this agent was brilliant). From this point on, Gary and Alana seemed to be being paid to run wind sprints--or (Haim) to gaze sweetly while listening to blather being passed off as dialogue. Alana Haim shows some promise of becoming a good actor one of these days and Hoffman might also become a decent character actor in the future (hard to tell), but to pass these two off as giving "star turns" is a bit ridiculous. I think we are all just a little too starved for entertainment.... There is little to no love or even "friend" chemistry between them. Then again, they had absolutely no plot to work with. Somebody phoned a story in here and although I didn't absolutely hate it--unlike Boogie Nights which I've watched and re-watched, I don't think I'll be seeing this one again.

I guess if you've really liked the more mainstream whodunnit movies down through the years--Murder on the Nile--The Last of Sheila--Clue--Murder on the Orient Express and are not expecting them to come to the level of Hitchcock mysteries (which aren't ALWAYS wonderful themselves,) this wouldn't be too awful. It's very beautiful. But the acting is ridiculously one dimensional and boring. Shannon, Craig, Curtis, Collette and Johnson just aren't able to make these characters come alive in anything but the most superficial way. The writing is weak and Christopher Plummer has some of the weakest. Lucky for the film that he has real depth as an actor.

Having been a teacher at a school that knew how to handle Bullying and bullies, this film horrified and angered me. If you call it one sided then note that not one person from the school or the superintendent s office dared to show their cowardly mugs on camera to defend their actions or their appalling lack of action, though they were clearly given the opportunity. That reeks of cowardice and this schools mascot should be replaced with an ostrich. They were given about a hundred chances to help these two children. I know that not everyone who lives in this town could possibly be as pathetically cruel as some of the Mentor students or as callous and weak as so many of the Mentor teachers and admin. But why couldn't they stand and fight for a child? You're making so much money as a teacher, coach or counselor that you can't reach down and find some semblance of personal strength if character? That's a question they can take with them through many long nights.

...it reeks of self indulgent and rather amateurish ensemble acting. The young people in this film never seem, for one moment like they have any idea of what they are doing. The adults are never believable. Please don't tell me that this is exactly the point and how their roles were meant to be played. Only the worst director in the world could have looked at their group scenes and said, "now that really sizzled." I am positive that every actor in this film (some of whom are truly gifted performers) other than Stockard Channing, (who---let's face it---has been a lot better than this)--probably cringe when they watch themselves in this. This is the only timeI have ever seen Donald Sutherland in, where he is grating and annoying. Bruce Davidson is much better than this and seems to be phoning it in. And Will Smith is NOT a revelation in this film, no matter how much people wanted him to be. He is more of a charming speech giver than someone truly invested in hischaracter. The flash back and story telling style seems like something out of Love American Style. This is a wannabe attempt at high brow film making and it does not get there. Prepare to be very bored and lectured to by a story that wants to dazzle you with style over substance.

IMDb has 1199 user ratings and 1 written review. Riiiight. Flooding your own show with positive reviews is one way of doing things, I guess. Another might have been hiring talented writers. The dialogue is wooden. The lead character is playing a boring conglomerate of every rogue cop you've ever seen and none of the supporting characters are given anything to do. This is a poor mans csi and although it's shot beautifully that's about all I can say for it. Titus welliver is a good actor, but he must have cringed at some of this dialogue. I would hope that amazon keeps trying in this field, but they should find an honest way of getting reviews out to prime members.

Ted Mann is a genius. Brought a bit of Deadwood to this piece and when the writing is great and the piece is filmed with such professionalism the results are going to be good. This is an amazing piece of history and all involved should be proud. I especially loved Costner, Mare Winningham, Tom Berringer and Jenna Malone, though I could name many more. What a story! I have to go back to Kevin Costner. I didn't understand a few of his lines, but here he is playing (and playing well) a generational historic character and doing it in a way that I did not think he had the capability of doing. He is wonderful as Devil Anse. It just goes to show you that if you give a talented pro great lines, they'll deliver. And he did, big time. This is tough, gritty and beautiful film making and if history means anything to you, I highly recommend Hatfields and McCoys.

Where Summer Heights High contained heart, nuance and characters you loved and pulled for (while cringing at them at the same time) this contains very little of that. Sad to say. I think this guy has shown flashes of genius, but in Angry Boys, Lilley seems to settle for shock value over strong and deep characters. Granted, I've only watched two episodes, but where We Can be Heroes and Summer Heights High seemed to jump off the screen with honesty and made one truly feel for Jonah, Jaime and Mr. G--Angry Boys grabs a tiny laugh here and there and doesn't lead anywhere except towards base and juvenile. Maybe this is what Chris was going for, but I have to say that--he is capable of better than this.

I felt a little sorry for the performers in this piece of garbage, but only till they started doing the Chow Time dance number. Then I lost all pity for them and wanted them to leave the screen as soon as possible. I've seen better work in junior high school assemblies. I just realized that my review won't be posted unless it contains ten lines of text. Well, I'm going to have to work really hard to find anything more to say about this totally forgettable piece of adolescent pablum. But even if I only make it to nine and a half lines, that will contain more thought than anyone put into the making of this sorry excuse for a film. Oh, man-I still have two more lines. I wish now I'd never stumbled on this movie. It's now wasting way too much of my life. One of the girls was sort of cute, but it's still a really bad movie. If you think your kids might enjoy it, you should be working harder to raise smarter children. That was rude. Sorry. Okay--that's ten or more lines.

Really some of the most bland writing and uninspiring acting I've seen in a sports movie (or any movie) in a long time. I used to be one of those guys who claimed he'd be happy watching Diane Lane fold laundry. Well guess what? She does fold laundry in this one and it's not as much fun as I thought it would be. This film makes the rather sappy films Seabiscuit and Rudy seem like Chekov by comparison. Nobody seems to look like they are enjoying saying their lines or acting in these ridiculous, contrived scenes. John Malkovich (as Lucien Lauren) has never been so poorly used. Scott Glen (fine actor) and the horse playing Sham come off best in this one--but then, he's playing a depressed vegetable who has a stroke (Mr. Glen--not the horse). Thank heavens there were a couple of well done racing scenes. But if I would have had to deal with one more stereotypical Penny Chenery family scene or one more bad '70's wig, I would have bolted from the theater like Zenyatta rounding the turn for home. This one is not for serious movie fans and the story of Secretariat is ultimately so much more interesting. I guess, therein lies the problem. Secretariat ran like a machine and this movie looks like it was made on an assembly line.

A powerful little film. Not stylish or in any way long on pretense, but it packs a punch because it takes hatred and religious bigotry on and asks no quarter. The Mormon conceived and backed plans to take on gay marriage in Hawaii and California were carefully orchestrated and done with the hope of remaining out of the spotlight in order to avoid any negative attention. Guess what Church Leadership? This film brings it all around full circle---well, BYU not being invited to join the PAC 10 as an affiliate is really a powerful example of "what goes around, comes around," since this is a church that keeps it foot planted squarely on the necks of gay people but looooves it's football. The great Universities of the PAC 10 can't tolerate a church owned campus that fosters intolerance. How's that for a kick in the stomach Coogs? Cudos and sincere thanks to Mr. Cowan and also to Sundance for leading the way once again and recognizing a fine piece of work. See it and prepare to get mad.

This is one of the more inspiring documentaries I've seen in the last few years. It is well made and combines a Burns like style, with the artists own unique presentational style. It has minor, minor flaws in it's doc-drama presentation, but that can't take away from the overall impact. It is a solid, simple retelling of one of the best small town stories I've ever heard. When I say "simple" I don't mean to imply that there is simplistic thinking by the filmmaker. He presents many different sides of a complex story and a man (Golden Kilburn) who had a seemingly simple view of boys and a straightforward way of dealing with them. Namely, understanding that boys have a huge well of energy and that getting the most out of that energy requires hard work, love of your fellow man, discipline and direction. In his subject character, Golden Kilburn--he has a gem. You simply can't look into the face of this man and not see a proud and caring person who is happy to be alive and embracing life. What a teacher! What a leader!

If you like this film and you are not mentally handicapped in some way, I feel very sorry for you. You need to challenge yourself more. Richie Rich comic books are fine for children, but if you are still guffawing and enchanted with them when you are in college, something is horribly wrong. I liked the Archies when I was a teenager--THEN I GREW UP! Tyler Perry can't write. It's that simple. If you like his films, you might as well say, "What I really appreciate in a film is poor writing executed by people who can't act very well. Oh, and if you could throw in a lousy director, please do so; I want to get the whole experience of a Tyler Perry movie.

This is a movie that makes Americans feel like all people of other cultures really want to be is "surprise," just like Americans! A silly and unbelievable plot, 30 quick shots per minute, LOUD music, and waaay to much Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Hey, I stopped caring about this movie in much the same way as I stopped caring about seeing people vie with Regis to become rich. It's boring! If you can't think of anything more that you want in a film than, Guy loses girl, guy makes a lot of money and gets girl back, you'll love this one. Other than some wonderful performances by tiny little kids in the first half hour, this film is the CRASH of 2008. Something that makes shallow viewers feel like art house afficinados.