As a videogame fan I went to see this movie with no expectations at all, as videogames are usually portrayed abysmally in movies(see: Virtual Sexuality for instance). The one thing this movie does get right though is videogames. Game aficionados will notice various more or less correct videogame references and cameos; everything from Game and Watch to Zelda 64, and even a GameCube controller. Apart from the games themselves though, this movie is a mess. A fractured, confused narrative coupled with dysfunctional, unlikable(and bigoted) characters, sprinkled very lightly with funny, individual scenes.
6 Reviews
Misleading
bopeder7 August 2003
Warning: Spoilers
This movie was ok, but the title is a bit misleading. 60% of the movie has nothing to do with computer games at all!
Some references are cool but the CGI in the movie STINKS! Perhaps the cute little 3D-guy (looks like a modern Paperboy city really) is cool but the Tekken-styled fight is just awful.
*SPOILERS AHEAD* Some questions arise - why did he play Nintendo 64 all day, if the tournament was about Track & Field 2 on the NES???
In the end, why did they choose the Jaguar in that competition - one of the lamest consoles ever, no cult status at all. The correct machine is called Atari 2600 folks... That would have been a much happier ending ;-)
5 out of 10...
Some references are cool but the CGI in the movie STINKS! Perhaps the cute little 3D-guy (looks like a modern Paperboy city really) is cool but the Tekken-styled fight is just awful.
*SPOILERS AHEAD* Some questions arise - why did he play Nintendo 64 all day, if the tournament was about Track & Field 2 on the NES???
In the end, why did they choose the Jaguar in that competition - one of the lamest consoles ever, no cult status at all. The correct machine is called Atari 2600 folks... That would have been a much happier ending ;-)
5 out of 10...
boring
psychodaemon22 April 2003
This movie got some of swedens not top of the line actors but quite famous ones, who been in several movies and tv sopas etc. the acting it self isnt that bad, the idea to the story could have worked fine but the movie itself is just neurotic and anoying it would have worked better as a 30 min cut down tv version. the video game references are few, eventhough there are some cool posters of nintendo 64 controllers ala warhol style on one wall. anyhow the story would worked better if the first thing showed was that he lost his hand would have worked better if they just cut out the beginning hospital scenes or something.. what ever. not worth buying, not worth renting. maybe just watch it on telly, but don't expect a movie with a lot of video games, there are more jewish easter celebration then video games(the main character is a Jew trying to deal with that the nintendo worldchampionship is colliding with a jewish holiday so he is trying to go to the easter supper and then in time catch a taxi to the air port to be able to go from sweden to america where the championship takes place....)
No not That bad!
teleadm-persson4 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I have a feeling this script for the movie should have gone through an experienced screen writer, so some roles could have been better etched out! Since this script is not bad, but should have needed a bath, and a few rewrites before it was made.
As it is it becomes too many Jewish caricatures, instead of characters one cares about! It's about a Video-game fanatic who wakes up in a hospital with the important hand missing, and then he tells his life story, culminating in a Seder Weekend.
Sunil Munchi,whom I never heard about before is a natural talent, and displays the right kind of panic in his role.
Kjell Bergqvist as his father, shows the right kind of explosivness in his role. As Oppressed and without wanting it being an Opresser himself.
Jan Malmsjö (Legendary Swedish Entertainer) Once married to Barrie Chase, Is as always misused! He is such a stage artist that he so easily becomes over the top, He plays the old patriarc of the family, that keeps carps in the bathtub just to make them correctly thick. I've seen him on stage in "La Cage aux Folles"! he totally comands a live audience!!
As it is it becomes too many Jewish caricatures, instead of characters one cares about! It's about a Video-game fanatic who wakes up in a hospital with the important hand missing, and then he tells his life story, culminating in a Seder Weekend.
Sunil Munchi,whom I never heard about before is a natural talent, and displays the right kind of panic in his role.
Kjell Bergqvist as his father, shows the right kind of explosivness in his role. As Oppressed and without wanting it being an Opresser himself.
Jan Malmsjö (Legendary Swedish Entertainer) Once married to Barrie Chase, Is as always misused! He is such a stage artist that he so easily becomes over the top, He plays the old patriarc of the family, that keeps carps in the bathtub just to make them correctly thick. I've seen him on stage in "La Cage aux Folles"! he totally comands a live audience!!
You don't have to be Jewish or a gamer to enjoy this movie. Funny and entertaining.
clivy6 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I chose to watch Bit by Bit on Netflix because I was intrigued by the description. There aren't many movies about Passover seders. I saw it just after Passover and I appreciated how it captured some of the nightmarish aspects family seders can feature including whiny little kids, long passages in Hebrew and family nagging single members to hurry up and get married. It was funny watching J seeing the seder as a challenge to collect the 4 cups and leave: I've felt like that during many seders.
I'm not really a fan of video games: I played Pong and Pacman in arcades back in the day, and I enjoyed the references to Mario Kart, Donkey Kong and Streetfighter. My husband is into VR and I encouraged him to pause his game, take off his helmet and watch the sequence where J fights his analyst. He thought it was a riot.
I haven't seen any other movies about Jewish families in Sweden (fact I found online: Sweden has a Jewish community of around 20,000, which makes it the 7th largest in the European Union). Bit by Bit has some very funny lines about Jewish family life and I thought the characters were wryly observed, including the grandfather. They are not stereotypes. I was not expecting that the grandfather would insist on eating traditional Jewish food like gefilte fish while also insisting bacon is kosher. I laughed at the live carp in the bathtub as well: I remember hearing about my great aunts and uncles taking home live fish to eat for the holidays.
I would have liked to see more from the family during the seder, rather than just them staring and suffering through long passages in Hebrew, the hunt for the afikomen and a brief mention of the 10 plagues for the children. It would have been funnier if the seder showed more tension over the service: Passover for my family consisted of arguments over my parents wanting to rush through the first half of the Maxwell House Haggadah to get to the multiple courses of food my mother prepared like she did every year while nagging my brother and sister in law about when when they were going honor tradition and join a synagogue and take the baby there so he can learn how to ask the 4 questions and stop making jokes about taking the baby to McDonalds on the way home. I've heard about my religious cousins complaining that they couldn't stand any more the seders at our very religious cousin's house that featured long discussions about every point raised in the service and went on until after midnight, and seders from hell led by people who want to make them "relevant" and drag in political discussions about social injustices, including putting oranges or olives on the seder plate to stand for LGBTQ rights or Palestinian rights.
I'm surprised Bit by Bit got such a low rating on IMDB. The ending falls a little flat: I thought the tournament J enters in Thailand looks like it's being held in a back room and looks shoddy compared to the Nintendo championship of his dreams. It would have been great to see J hailed as a gaming champion and as a trailblazer for physically-challenged players. But Bit by Bit has something to entertain everyone. You don't have to be Jewish or a video gaming fan to enjoy it.
I'm not really a fan of video games: I played Pong and Pacman in arcades back in the day, and I enjoyed the references to Mario Kart, Donkey Kong and Streetfighter. My husband is into VR and I encouraged him to pause his game, take off his helmet and watch the sequence where J fights his analyst. He thought it was a riot.
I haven't seen any other movies about Jewish families in Sweden (fact I found online: Sweden has a Jewish community of around 20,000, which makes it the 7th largest in the European Union). Bit by Bit has some very funny lines about Jewish family life and I thought the characters were wryly observed, including the grandfather. They are not stereotypes. I was not expecting that the grandfather would insist on eating traditional Jewish food like gefilte fish while also insisting bacon is kosher. I laughed at the live carp in the bathtub as well: I remember hearing about my great aunts and uncles taking home live fish to eat for the holidays.
I would have liked to see more from the family during the seder, rather than just them staring and suffering through long passages in Hebrew, the hunt for the afikomen and a brief mention of the 10 plagues for the children. It would have been funnier if the seder showed more tension over the service: Passover for my family consisted of arguments over my parents wanting to rush through the first half of the Maxwell House Haggadah to get to the multiple courses of food my mother prepared like she did every year while nagging my brother and sister in law about when when they were going honor tradition and join a synagogue and take the baby there so he can learn how to ask the 4 questions and stop making jokes about taking the baby to McDonalds on the way home. I've heard about my religious cousins complaining that they couldn't stand any more the seders at our very religious cousin's house that featured long discussions about every point raised in the service and went on until after midnight, and seders from hell led by people who want to make them "relevant" and drag in political discussions about social injustices, including putting oranges or olives on the seder plate to stand for LGBTQ rights or Palestinian rights.
I'm surprised Bit by Bit got such a low rating on IMDB. The ending falls a little flat: I thought the tournament J enters in Thailand looks like it's being held in a back room and looks shoddy compared to the Nintendo championship of his dreams. It would have been great to see J hailed as a gaming champion and as a trailblazer for physically-challenged players. But Bit by Bit has something to entertain everyone. You don't have to be Jewish or a video gaming fan to enjoy it.
funny
mammasalskling28 June 2006
I saw this film long ago. But I remember that I found it hilarious, especially Kjell Bergquist's character, because I usually don't like his acting. But the dialog with him and his son (not the main character) is really funny. And unpredictable (spelling?) if I compare to other Swedish movies who often is really really boring. I don't remember what the title is according to but I have nothing against it. I also like this sort of movies when one of the character is re-telling the story to someone, who often don't give a sh#t about it, plus that it have some pauses and you can think between all the scenes. I liked the main-character because his a little of dreamer and so into Nintendo. I think everybody should see this film, because it's the best movie produced in Sweden.
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