I have never laughed so hard in a movie as I did Sunday night in Santa Barbara. I have known characters like these all my life who continue to try and succeed in life to win the respect and love of family e.g. Bridges's son. The main motive in life should not be monetary gain but being loved by those who love you. This is the moral of this wonderful movie which made my eyes misty at the end when Bridges kept replaying his son's voice mail,"....I love you Dad!" and then put the new sheets on his son's bed. The characters all mirror Bridges's desire to succeed at something in life. Bridges is like a pied piper in uniting the cast to follow his lead. Danson is a riot. Pantoliano is absolutely terrific. I have never seen him before in such a subdued hilariously funny role. Run! Don't walk to this very wonderful movie. Adding to the foregoing comment which was written over a year ago, I saw the re-cut version of the film last night(4/22/06) and wondered why many of the scenes of the funny grumpy old guy, (Clara's man) were cut, particularly the part near the end when he drives away in a new car with a wide smile after he had been frowning during the whole film. The re-cut version is a tighter film which focuses almost completely on the main characters at the expense of the peripheral characters. However, it is still a terrific film.
Review of The Amateurs
