Somebodies (2006) User Reviews

Funny

[ArizWldcat · 6/10 · 29 January 2006]

I saw this at Sundance this week, and it was one of the funniest movies we saw. There are a lot of laughs but also some poignant moments. The story is about a young college student who is trying to discover who he is. He insists in the beginning of the movie that he's "not a Cosby kid" and he's far from that, but as the movie goes on, he begins to question his life choices.

This was written by Hadjii, who (from the info in my Sundance magazine) is a part time teacher at University of Georgia. He also stars in the film. Many of the actors in the movie are his real life college friends, but he also used a lot of the "locals" from the Athens, Georgia area.

Not good.

[JCL_LDP · 3/10 · 3 February 2006]

A coming of age story about a college low life who decides it's time to grow up. I really love rooting for the little guy and this was the first truly low budget independent film I saw at the Sundance Film festival. I overheard that critic Roger Ebert liked it the day before we saw it, so I was pretty jazzed. It was also one of the few film's we had tickets to before we even got into Park City, but sadly it turned out to be my least favorite film of the festival.

It started out pretty funny, with a couple funny lines and goofy characters, but quickly turned out quite bad with the characters (except the lead, I guess) never going anywhere as they were all stereotypical and one dimensional. The film ran long and ultimately became boring.

There were a couple exceptions (lead actress and preacher) but overall the acting was stiff (mostly from director/actor Hadjii himself who was in every scene). To be honest I don't know why this film made Sundance; however, I congratulate the filmmakers for accomplishing that milestone and I will leave it at that.

An honest account of normal college youth

[notalota40-1 · 8/10 · 20 March 2006]

I saw this at Sundance and thought it was the most true movie I've ever seen about college life. Other college movies focus on Cinderella stories or toga parties or bad student behavior. This film is a funny story of a real person going to a real college and struggling with real minor issues with real friends in the real world. I would say that a vast majority of those in college are not living the outrageous lives of Hollywood college films. I went to see this because Roger Ebert said it was like being there in person, and aside from the bland acting from the lead, I couldn't agree more. The movie starts out with Scotty trying to figure out if he wants to go to church or not (he was asleep). He finally decides to go and he finds himself falling asleep in the sermon. He continues on in his lazy uncaring life until he meets a crazy girl in a bar, who wakes him up a bit, and a cop on the street, who gives him a favor by way of an ultimatum (be good or go to jail). Scotty tries to be good by doing good deeds in the community but they all make him laugh and he doesn't take anything seriously enough to learn anything from it. Finally, when something big happens to one of the funniest characters, it makes him rethink his life and he starts to get serious about what is most important. You'll have to see the film to find out what is most important, although you probably already know because it's exactly like your life (if you're normal).

Totally embarrassing...

[easywriter1 · 1/10 · 4 June 2006]

I saw this movie at Sundance and was completely embarrassed to be black. I mean, wow, there were white people around watching this movie and this is what this film maker decided to portray as "us"?! I think movies like this are why "we" as a people don't get more opportunities. I'm happy for the kid that he got an opportunity to do his craft but I think he totally missed the mark on this one. The story was so hollow and rudimentary that it didn't really need to be told. Besides that, it was like a stereotype buffet of clichés. C'mon Hadji man, you're better than this. I hate to say this, but I really hope this movie never finds distribution.

Funniest Movie I've seen in years

[d-w-morrison · 10/10 · 26 March 2006]

I just saw this film at the Cleveland International Film Festival and it was one of the best films this year. The combination of African-American family and cultural humor with general college humor was great, and I think anyone who's lived "on-campus" at a college will find this a very funny movie. There were several times in the film where the audience laughter was so loud you couldn't hear the dialog. The acting in the movie was impressive, especially since my expectation was that it would be marginal for a first-time writer/director and a low budget production. It turns out that several of the actors are from the Atlanta comedy club scene and their strong comedic skills are put on display in this production. Hadjii, the director and principal actor in the film has a great future if he can do so well in his first feature-length effort.

Fresh and funny look at college life in the South

[neilsm · 9/10 · 21 January 2006]

Just saw the Sundance movie 'Somebodies' .... much better than your average 'college' movie ... wickedly humorous and insightful look at coming of age for a young black dude at a college in Georgia. Some really funny scenes, some great lines and cool acting .... true independent but nicely photographed. Underneath the comedy is a serious story of a bunch of 20 somethings trying to find their way in a screwed up world. The main character Scottie is portrayed as a guy in the middle - not a saint or a gangsta ... just you're average guy trying to hang out, make out and stay out of trouble. Of course, it takes a strong headed young woman to really sort him out. If you're white and middle class, you should see this movie - it'll give you a fresh perspective and make you laugh. If you're black and middle class, you should definitely see this movie - it'll strike a chord and make you laugh until you cry.

Funniest movie!

[skiingzs · 10/10 · 18 February 2006]

This was the first of three films I saw at the Sundance film festival and was the best one we saw (much better then the ones Timberlake and Aniston starred in). We laughed so hard during the entire movie, we ended up missing half the movie due to our laughing. Where can we buy the DVD to see the parts we laughed through? The movie did not use typical stereotypes of young black men. Instead of listening to the stereotypical rap music, one scene had Hadji blasting REM. The female lead was wonderful as was the preacher. Please put this on DVD, I am beginning to forget some of the best lines in the movie. Having never been to a independent film before, I will now be more open minded, there is a lot of talent out there and a lot of it is not in Hollywood.

Brilliant!

[cozyredcushions · 9/10 · 1 October 2007]

I LOVED this movie. It was funny, smart, well-acted, well written, and new! It was so WONDERFUL to see a "black movie" this Unique and inventive. With a perspective that was both relatable and satirical characters were sometimes realistic and sometimes exaggerated, but the performances were as a whole fantastic. I'm sorry to see this movie get any bad reviews because as a black viewer so bored with so many tired clichés in films, it was so refreshing to see this movie so intelligently display a new perspective that I related to on so many levels. Above all this movie made me laugh to the point of tears SEVERAL times throughout feature. That in itself is enough to get a good rating from me. I applaud Hadjii and I am so grateful that he was able to make this movie and I encourage other black filmmakers to keep trying to make the movies that they want to make that step out of the box and shed light on the infinite black perspectives that have yet to be seen on screen.

Incredible

[coryandcory · 10/10 · 12 February 2007]

This film was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved all the characters and the actors who played them. Hadjii is so talented!! He was the director, star,AND writer!! The movie even got into Sundance. I was there and a Sundance festival administrator gave the best opening for it! Everyone should go and check this movie out at the AFI festival in November!If you don't believe me on this than you believe countless critics. Those critics even include the AMAZING Roger Ebert!!!! Can't wait for it to come out on DVD and hopefully in theaters!!! I know that this film will go sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo far if somebody would buy it. So until then I wait patiently for this film.