The common theme of the positive reviews that try to refute the negative reviews seems to be that the people who didn't like this movie didn't understand the film or wanted something with fart jokes.
The truth is this movie is plain and simply bad. It tries to go back to clichéd themes of elusive happiness in the modern world, the rat race, corporations trying to monopolize happiness, yadda yadda yadda - and utterly fails on all counts.
At the beginning of the movie I was trying to decide whether the filmmakers were making fun of "weird and profound" movies or trying to be one of them. As time wore on (the only way to describe enduring this film - it's like being worn down by awfulness) the mournful, solitary piano lines and strings floating in the background made it obvious that this was an extremely poor attempt at being profound. To the people who love it, I'm sure it seems profound - it might have to me back when I was young and naive and hadn't seen a hundred movies that have covered similar themes in a way that makes this look like it was cooked up and executed by film school dropouts.
After writing that, I realize I should apologize to film school dropouts for the insult of associating them with this movie.
It is billed as a black comedy but without any comedic moments that rise above an occasional and very slight "heh". If you were recovering from surgery and your doctor warned you to avoid any strenuous laughing that might damage damage your stitches, you would be perfectly safe watching this movie. As a bonus it can function as a non addictive sleep aid.
Only two things kept me watching this movie initially - the presence of Judy Greer and Missi Pyle - I've liked their work in the past. I thought their presence would at least bring some redeeming quality to the movie, but in the end the movie was so bad it ended up tainting even them. Combining the utterly lifeless performance of Zach Galifianakis (I'm not talking about how he was supposed to be intentionally lifeless in his role - I'm talking about how he was lifeless at being lifeless. He was lifeless even in his spastic fits.) and the overacting of most of the supporting cast, the movie has almost no redeeming qualities. The film is poorly shot and looks like it was made on the cheap with props, sets, and vehicles borrowed from friends and relatives. Other filmmakers have been able to pull that off and add charm and flavor to their movies - on this one it just makes it feel even more amateurish.
Sometimes film makers are so good they can put together weirdness, odd performances, and seemingly low quality production values in a kind of stealth approach and then, with their above average skill set, they bring it all together in a way that surprises the viewer. They use non conventional methods to catch you off guard and then really deliver something unique and entertaining.
I struggled through this movie hoping that there was a moment of redemption when the plodding storyline, the bad acting, and the poor look and feel of the movie crystallized into something where it all was all revealed to be intentional by the filmmakers. Unfortunately there was no such master plan - the movie is not plodding, weird, and cheap looking because the filmmakers are highly skilled in the art - it is that way because they aren't any good at it.
The truth is this movie is plain and simply bad. It tries to go back to clichéd themes of elusive happiness in the modern world, the rat race, corporations trying to monopolize happiness, yadda yadda yadda - and utterly fails on all counts.
At the beginning of the movie I was trying to decide whether the filmmakers were making fun of "weird and profound" movies or trying to be one of them. As time wore on (the only way to describe enduring this film - it's like being worn down by awfulness) the mournful, solitary piano lines and strings floating in the background made it obvious that this was an extremely poor attempt at being profound. To the people who love it, I'm sure it seems profound - it might have to me back when I was young and naive and hadn't seen a hundred movies that have covered similar themes in a way that makes this look like it was cooked up and executed by film school dropouts.
After writing that, I realize I should apologize to film school dropouts for the insult of associating them with this movie.
It is billed as a black comedy but without any comedic moments that rise above an occasional and very slight "heh". If you were recovering from surgery and your doctor warned you to avoid any strenuous laughing that might damage damage your stitches, you would be perfectly safe watching this movie. As a bonus it can function as a non addictive sleep aid.
Only two things kept me watching this movie initially - the presence of Judy Greer and Missi Pyle - I've liked their work in the past. I thought their presence would at least bring some redeeming quality to the movie, but in the end the movie was so bad it ended up tainting even them. Combining the utterly lifeless performance of Zach Galifianakis (I'm not talking about how he was supposed to be intentionally lifeless in his role - I'm talking about how he was lifeless at being lifeless. He was lifeless even in his spastic fits.) and the overacting of most of the supporting cast, the movie has almost no redeeming qualities. The film is poorly shot and looks like it was made on the cheap with props, sets, and vehicles borrowed from friends and relatives. Other filmmakers have been able to pull that off and add charm and flavor to their movies - on this one it just makes it feel even more amateurish.
Sometimes film makers are so good they can put together weirdness, odd performances, and seemingly low quality production values in a kind of stealth approach and then, with their above average skill set, they bring it all together in a way that surprises the viewer. They use non conventional methods to catch you off guard and then really deliver something unique and entertaining.
I struggled through this movie hoping that there was a moment of redemption when the plodding storyline, the bad acting, and the poor look and feel of the movie crystallized into something where it all was all revealed to be intentional by the filmmakers. Unfortunately there was no such master plan - the movie is not plodding, weird, and cheap looking because the filmmakers are highly skilled in the art - it is that way because they aren't any good at it.
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