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32 reviews in total

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Not my "Friends"...., 11 May 1999
Author: Brian Orndorf from Minneapolis

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Friends And Lovers" Trashed by every critic, and deservedly so. This comedy features the oddest tone of a feature film in some time. It's silly, it's deeply dramatic, it's sexually explicit, it's shockingly amateurish... It's everything!

Stephen Baldwin, Allison Eastwood, Danny Nucci, George Newbern, David Rasche, and Claudia Schiffer head the cast of friends who gather at a ski chalet during the holidays. The share life lessons, deep secrets, and raging hormones over the course of two days. It's real easy to see why actors would want to be in this. "Friends" is the type of film that's very actor friendly. Director George Haas lets his cast have free reign over their performances, often resulting in self-conscious acting. I was drawn to this for two reasons, Schiffer being the first. I was curious about her acting (this being her second starring role, the first in a Able Ferrara film that has yet to find American distribution - actual proof that there is a God). Needless to say, she stinks. She just doesn't have the chops for the big screen. The other reason I attended this was for Robert Downey Jr's hilarious performance as a German ski instructor named Hans. He's the lone bright spot in this bizarre film. Some dramatics between Newbern and Rasche work well too, they just seem from a different movie. The locations are nice, and the technical credits are appropriate. Plus when isn't it a good thing to see a schlocky old fashion 1987 ski montage complete with squealing guitars? Anyone? This wasn't terrible to sit through, but it is a bad film. Just one of those movies that come around that makes you think just how much blow was passed around to get it made.------ 3

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Just when you thought it was safe to go to the movies!!!, 25 April 2000
Author: dillon09 (dillon09@hotmail.com) from Woodnewton

With a cast like this, you figure the film shouldn't be that bad, but believe me it is. The cast are fighting a losing battle from the start, Robert Downey Jr, should kick himself for getting wrapped up in this film, and as for his accent, the Bavarians have probably put a Fatwa out on him. Claudia Schiffer, shows some potential, but the gag that she falls for a guy with the line "Have you ever considered being a model?" is so thin, it makes Twiggy look over weight. Alison Eastwood also shows potential, but again drowns in the watery story. If this was a kids report card, the phrase 'Can do much better' would be the the one that stands out

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Not great, but not THAT bad...plus I just REALLY like Robert Downey Jr.'s tush.., 12 May 2011

Author: Lizzie Sparrow from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is not supposed to be Citizen Kane. It's a fluff piece. If you're locked up on a rainy day--or better yet, in a cabin during a winter snowstorm--with a couple of friends, some rum & a board game, it doesn't hurt to toss this on in the background, if for no other reason than to watch RDJ's fine derrière, easily the best part of this whole thing.

Having said that, the one thing, if nothing else (and seriously, I'm not doing that much of a review here anyway...), that needs to be pointed out to the several people who have commented on RDJ's "bad" German accent--it's intentional. His accent is supposed to be cheesy like that because he's from New Jersey, not Germany. If that accent was supposed to be spoken by a genuine German character, bet your rear that Downey would have nailed it. It's a silly little bit of comedy that's not intended to be Shakespeare, and if you can just look at it that way, and try to enjoy the scenery, i.e. RDJ's man-tastic buns and the mountains, it's not a bad little flick, and it's mildly entertaining.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
self indulgent, derivative and abjectly awful, 3 June 1999
Author: John Moore (john.moore@themix.com) from Montreal, Quebec

Friends and Lovers is a meandering and pointless story about a half dozen depthless characters finding love and sex in a luxury ski lodge. The characters don't seem to have any past but thanks to a talented product placement director, they do have very expensive cars and clothes. Tedious themes (son estranged from father, insensitive Lothario who can't find love) aren't helped any by a gay story line that suggests the writer has never met a gay person in his life. In an industry where producers have to struggle to piece together the funding for a film like "The Opposite of Sex", its upsetting to see such a waste of human effort and money as "Friends and Lovers".

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
What a mess, what a mess, what a mighty big mess..., 12 December 2001

Author: Linn from Søvika

Gees, what a film. Basically, a lot of friends (and enemies?) on a skiing holiday togheter. The result of the film is pretty much that all the wrong people end up in bed together. You wouldn't think this would make a good film, but it does! At least I think so. It's a complicated movie, but still it doesn't require much thinking. (hm...) Most of the thinking cosists of trying to keep all the different characters apart.

Personally, I think this is a basic case of "we're-on-holiday-so-we-can-do-what-we-like" and maybe it's not the best plot ever. Still, you can't help but enjoy it when Claudia's character dumps her arrogant, but good-looking, boyf. for Robert DJ's rather silly (but charming) character. Sends out a message that looks don't really matter. Any guy (or girl) who's ever wanted anyone "outta their league" probably feels the same way.

So, in my opinion, a GREAT film... Sorry other people don't feel the same way.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
This movie is retarded with a capital "W.", 13 November 2000

Author: DennisH from Emerald Hills, CA, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Read that as 'Wee tah did.' Robert Downey Jr. has a disgusting, fake German accent, and the rest of the movie is worse. I did manage to finish the movie, but I didn't see every scene because I was rolling my eyes continuously.

Every line in the movie was superficially 'acted,' if you can call people facing the camera while engaging in a monotonous, boring dialog acting. Save your money.

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so.... Neill Barry's penis, 24 March 2012

Author: ericmurga from United States

I actually used to know Neill Barry, and when he was telling me about his movies, he recommended Friends and Lovers to me. So I find it, only to see his huge penis in there. WTF. I was 13 when I saw it BTW. After that, I was always a bit suspicious of him. I never got over that scene, or the fact that he recommended this stupid stupid movie to me. I suppose I did kinda like a scene or two though, including the full-frontal shot, just cause he is quite big. But I digress. The movie is putrid, the acting is bland, the writing is absolutely horrible (really, talking about how big her nipples are?), I just don't know how else to describe this movie other than a stupid waste of time, unless your need to see his penis is that great.

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insipid, vacuous and pathetic...Do NOT rent this movie!, 16 November 1999

Author: Greg Ricks (gpricks@prodigy.net) from Tustin, California

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It's hard to believe that actors/actresses of this caliber would lower themselves to be associated with a "film" such as this. It's essentially a flick for 35-year-old "Porky's" fans. Problem is, "Porky's" was funny when you were 16, and when the actors were playing teenagers, too-- It's NOT funny when the actors are playing 30-year-olds. Everyone involved in this movie should be punished and forced to spend a great deal of time hanging out with junior high school kids during an unsupervised weekend...that's what I was forced to do watching this movie.

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Hello Reality?, 2 November 1999
Author: Mekatzer from Earth

Okay, so they're twenty-somethings. Okay, so they've got problems or whatever. But does it strike anyone as odd that these guys tool around in Land Rovers and E-class Mercedes'? And, if they've got the cash for their little romps, why do they road-trip to their ski resort rather than fly? The first twenty minutes alone kill the film, the rest is just its fall to the ground.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
This might have been the worst movie ever made, 21 April 1999

Author: J.C. from NYC

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

There is not much I can say about this movie other than it was bad. It has talent with Robert Downey Jr., and Stephan Baldwin, but the screenplay is so bad that De Niro or Pacino couldn't have made this film work. I know not many people will see this movie, because it's an independent film (and a bad one, none the less) but I feel that as a service to others who might consider it, STAY AWAY!!!!!!! Save a couple hours of your life and rent a good movie.

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