This movie had good intentions and a decent, original story (kind of a twist on High Fidelity). The movie started out good, stayed okay, then became ridiculous. Fragments of the story fell into odd places (The ex-boyfriend Bean, the Kippie subplot, etc.). The narration was corny and unoriginal. The focus of the movie was inconsistent (the relationship? the girl? the job? the Stacy & Barb? Ira?). The resolutions were a bit too far fetched, as the movie seemed to never want to walk a consistent line of believability, (Yes, people are can be backstabbing and sadistic, but Barb's train of actions defied plot logic and realism). The movie was willing to resolve a ridiculous Carly Simon/Diane Sawyer, yet never really resolved the ethical labyrinth that it opened.
I will give credit to the actors who were all solid. Brittany Murphy was probably (and understandably) the weakest, but still did well. For that reason I will give the movie a "4" instead of the "3" I originally intended to give it (that's a point to compensate for something that just might be subjective, but I doubt it judging by other professional reviews). The major flaw of the film was structural, not theatrical, but it was too big of a flaw to ignore. The movie was too chaotic to work as a convincing, logical story and too far-fetched to work as a realistic story. It struck me as a spectacle of drama (albeit honest drama) and circumstantial "what if this happened" story telling.
I will give credit to the actors who were all solid. Brittany Murphy was probably (and understandably) the weakest, but still did well. For that reason I will give the movie a "4" instead of the "3" I originally intended to give it (that's a point to compensate for something that just might be subjective, but I doubt it judging by other professional reviews). The major flaw of the film was structural, not theatrical, but it was too big of a flaw to ignore. The movie was too chaotic to work as a convincing, logical story and too far-fetched to work as a realistic story. It struck me as a spectacle of drama (albeit honest drama) and circumstantial "what if this happened" story telling.