When he hit the prize shot from the halfway line at a basketball game, Stanley Simon was talked into investing the money into opening a copy shop by his friend Bo Stein (who has a degree in economics). Of course now that copy shop chain King Co has opened up across the street, the idea doesn't seem so good. Things only get worse when they get told they have two weeks to pay back rent before being evicted and don't even ask about Stanley's relationship with girlfriend Vicki. With closure looming, the pair decide to take the fight to the corporate giant.
I had never heard of this film when it came onto terrestrial television but I decided that this might not be something I should take as a warning. Well, as it turns out I was wrong as this mostly so-so comedy just ambles across the screen offering very little. You can see what they were aiming for. It is sort of Clerks crossed with the modern day frustration of Office Space but it lacks a real sense of wit and, of course, proper laughs. Conceptually I have no problem with it because you can see the social relevance and also comedy potential in a copy of slackers but it is the delivery that offers little of interest.
The narrative doesn't do a great deal with the idea and the subplots (specifically Stanley's relationship) are mostly flat. I could forgive this if the main thrust was funny but it is only really sporadically amusing at best. The performances do rather match the lack lustre air in the material. Luke Wilson always comes over as the William Baldwin of the Wilson brothers and he only reinforced that here by producing a rather obvious performance. West Wing's Joshua Malina is OK but neither Rhys nor LaMarr are as funny as their "sidekick" roles really needed them to be. Devicq is attractive but doesn't convince as a real person. McKean and Doyle-Murray are a bonus but aren't used at all well.
Overall then a sort of slacker comedy that crosses Clerks and Office Space but it is consistently mediocre and only has the odd moment where it is amusing. Mostly though it isn't up to much and I understand now why I had never heard of it and will probably never hear of it again.
I had never heard of this film when it came onto terrestrial television but I decided that this might not be something I should take as a warning. Well, as it turns out I was wrong as this mostly so-so comedy just ambles across the screen offering very little. You can see what they were aiming for. It is sort of Clerks crossed with the modern day frustration of Office Space but it lacks a real sense of wit and, of course, proper laughs. Conceptually I have no problem with it because you can see the social relevance and also comedy potential in a copy of slackers but it is the delivery that offers little of interest.
The narrative doesn't do a great deal with the idea and the subplots (specifically Stanley's relationship) are mostly flat. I could forgive this if the main thrust was funny but it is only really sporadically amusing at best. The performances do rather match the lack lustre air in the material. Luke Wilson always comes over as the William Baldwin of the Wilson brothers and he only reinforced that here by producing a rather obvious performance. West Wing's Joshua Malina is OK but neither Rhys nor LaMarr are as funny as their "sidekick" roles really needed them to be. Devicq is attractive but doesn't convince as a real person. McKean and Doyle-Murray are a bonus but aren't used at all well.
Overall then a sort of slacker comedy that crosses Clerks and Office Space but it is consistently mediocre and only has the odd moment where it is amusing. Mostly though it isn't up to much and I understand now why I had never heard of it and will probably never hear of it again.