Reviews

First of all, the film is very interesting and thought provoking. That being said, it does resemble Office Space a little bit. I say that because a lot of it takes place in an office and it's like we are watching it from Milton's perspective. Those are the only comparisons. I have just watched this movie, and I like it very much. This is the kind of film the movie theater's have been missing. To go back to my summary title, I think that Christian Slater's performance in this film outshines anything else he's done. I am a big fan of Elisha Cuthbert. She is good in this as well. However, Slater's performance is something to see by anyone and everyone. I almost forgot that is was Slater playing the part of Bob. Slater has never left the building!

The first time I saw this movie, I was about ten years old. I had been spending the night over at a friends house and his parents had a copy on VHS. I should probably add that I am a big fan of time travel, but nothing ever enticed me quite like this picture. Anyway, I was drawn to it so much that I watched it again the next day all by myself. I can't really explain why but after those first two viewings, I thought about the movie for a long time.

Almost twenty years later, I stumbled upon it here and remembered my fondness of it. I bought it on DVD and again, I still like the film very much. I know that sounds strange for an almost thirty year old man, but I suspect I'm not the only one. This is a most unlikely Disney film for a lot of reasons I won't discuss. In fact, had it been distributed by another production company, it might have been a better movie. Why argue that now? I'm a big fan of Randal Kleiser's films and I think Joey Cramer's acting is really good in his role as David. Maybe that's why I liked this movie so much.

It's a tale about a doctor(Robin Williams) taking on a new job in the Bronx. His new patients are something of the unusual. A handful of them share an unexplainable disease. The rare disease has left these people frozen in time. One of his main patients is a man named Leonard Lowe, played by Robert Deniro. Doctor Sayer begins a diligent study. To the present day, there are still many questions surrounding this strange disease. During one amazing season in the late 60's, a miracle happened.

In my opinion, both Robin Williams and Robert Deniro should have won Oscars for this film. I always say that Williams with a beard equals an amazing performance. His role as the meek Dr. Sayer is heartwarming. He plays perfectly off Deniro's character. Robert Deniro is golden as Leonard, the disease afflicted patient that gives all of his consciousness to help Dr. Sayer. With the help of a large dose of medicine and care all the patients and hospital staff have awakenings.

One of the most important words spoken in the film is: LEARN.

This film teaches me to appreciate life a little more every time I see it. It hopefully sends us the message to enjoy life. To love and embrace what we have and perhaps learn not to take the natural joys in life for granted is the message.

I remember seeing parts of this movie when I was a little kid. As I watched, I wondered, what was this strange movie those guys from SNL were in. When I was much older I watched it again to find one of the great dark comedies ever to come from any of the, original not ready for prime time players. John Belushi plays well as the straight edged character, Earl. He is a nine to five guy with the wife at home and a kid away at school. Dan Aykroyd completely changes his brown hair and brown eye look to play the blond hair and blue eye, off the wall character, Vic. He is the party animal, opposite of Earl. When Vic is not around, his girlfriend Ramona is constantly making sexual advances towards Earl. This leads you to wonder what is going on with the other characters off screen when Ramona is flirting with Earl. Naturally, Belushi and Aykroyd play well off each other. From the moment they meet in the movie. You can't help but watch for what happens next. All of the characters in this film seem to have a hidden agenda except for Earl. He feels he is an innocent bystander in an otherwise very strange world. There is a lot of funny dialogue that you must listen for during this film. If you are not paying attention, you may miss it. I have read that this was a very difficult film to make with many rewrites. Despite what happened during production, it shows what I think to be its original intension. You never know what kind of people might be moving in next door. Beware of the neighbors!

The first time I saw this movie, I was speechless. I had no idea what to expect when it caught my eye from a shelf at the local video store. It's a twisted and edgy film. Brian O'Halloran gives a very strong performance as a sad party clown who goes for broke with a questionable career change. He is that guy that always receives the short end of things. It's also funny for the most part. Many of the supporting actors give some memorable and bizarre performances. Bryan Johnson does very well scripting and directing this film. It's a dialogue heavy movie. Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier acted in and produced this film. Their talent needs no budget.

This movie should be on everyones DVD shelf. Anyone who doesn't like this film is probably afraid and close-minded. Even though it's black and white, it will become after many years, much like Star Wars, a timeless film despite its low-budget. It has inspired me to follow my dreams of being a filmmaker as I am sure it has done the same for many others. If this had been the only film Kevin Smith wrote and directed, people would be saying for decades, when is that guy from New Jersey going to make another ground breaking, hilarious film. That is exactly what it is, ground breaking and hilarious. Always remember this: the customer is not always right.