Reviews

possible spoilers

this movie left me with lot of questions.

where are everyone's parents? why is steve harvey the only father figure? what is jakee doing in a movie? the house looked better than mine, as did the cell phones, clothes and shoes - why do those kids need money? how does that one guy have a car if he has no money? what are they "delivering"? newspapers? are these kids in high school? do they have jobs? why are most of the white people evil? why, in a movie who's central premise is dancing, is most of the dancing so boring? what's with the plot holes? what's up with the cheesy as hell montages? lil saint is alive one day and dead the next - where did everyone get their "lil saint" gear? is there a lil saint store? why is lil kim in a movie intended for anyone under 18? did it occur to anyone that reciting lines in front of a camera is not acting?

oh the cliches - to numerous to count. i'm beginning to think there really is a cliche handbook.

i gave this movie a 2. only because as bad as it was, it was still better than matrix revolutions.

this is a great film.

like alot of people, i was skeptical about hearing adam sandler's name in a drama. but after seeing it, it makes perfect sense. it is essentialy the same character he always plays - calm and friendly / the incredible hulk - but this time it's much more realistic and moving.

the only complaints i have come from the audience and marketing. i made the mistake of seeing this film on saturday night with about 20 teenagers looking for the goofy adam. as a result they tend to howl at wildly inapropriate times.

this, i think, ties into the marketing problem. the ads tell us this is a black comedy or maybe a romance. i disagree. to me this movie is about anxiety period. i felt a bit uncomortable watching it since it was so familiar. scenes like when adam says he can't make a party because he has to renew his gym membership or the pacing and fidgeting, these are all things i've experienced. now there is the element of love in the film, but to me it was more about finally finding something positive to latch on to. we watch as adam fights his own fears to follow something he knows in his heart is right.

this is the only film i can think of that i completely understood and related to every second of. (but for the record, i've never beaten up four people with a tire iron)

awesome backgrounds, horrible popeye style characters, horrible use of american music.

lame plot: just like A.I. it starts good then degenerates into Pinochio (sp)? i don't CARE about robots.

and tell me i didn't hear freddie prinz jr doing a voice. - that's the kind of crap that ruined Princess Mononoke.

i'm gonna watch it again in japanese w/ subtitles.

i must be the last person on earth to have seen this (5/02), and i was in no hurry. i almost always disagree with the "academy"

on the good side - some cool cinematography, good set design and special effects (mostly) and Joquain Pheonix.

the bad - the characters seem a bit flat, they should have developed more. i couldn't help but laugh at some of the names Commodus and Maxiums Exodus Leviticus Deuteronamy whatever... and one really bad FX shot where Russel kills a tiger - it looked like they got a stuffed tiger from a state fair.

overall: good, but i don't ever need to see it again

I finally just saw this film. I liked this much more than Lost Highway, it flows alot better. Even though it's not as fast paced (relatively speaking) as Blue Velvet or Wild at Heart, it's a fascinating journey. It has a bit of the dream-like quality that was all through Eraserhead.

My one complaint has more to with the initial promotion of the film. Right from the beginning I had been hearing about the girl/girl sex scenes. If you have seen this film, you will know that that information really kills the climax of the movie.

A little note on the DVD. I really appreciate the lack of chapter selection and commentary - this film is meant to be watched straight through without interruption.

i really thought this was gonna be good, but not so.

the premise is good - a man obsessed with looks gains the ability to see inner beauty. i understand the intention, but the execution was horrible.

after 15 minutes you can tell how it's going to end, which isn't bad, but it was an insult having Paltro in a fat suit at the end. why the hell didn't they use the actress that actually played her in the "fat" scenes.

it reminds me of the Farelly bros movie "Outside Providence" - they cannot mix gross-out humor and really heavy drama at the same time. they should stick to more even films like "...Mary" and "...Irene"

just as bad was the overall lack of humor. Jack Black's mannerisms and inflection are genius. Laura Kightlinger and Kyle Gass are good in their minor rolls. but the rest of the humor is crap. Jason Alexander obviously did this for the money. and miss Paltro is worthless.

hey Jack - stick to good indie films and the D.