Attention Shoppers

If you would like a laugh-outloud knee-slapper, you should definitely find another movie. This is comedy in a more traditionally theatrical sense, with dry, quietly subtle observations bordering on satire and witty insights into the near-tragedy of the human condition.

It is also one of those small, personal, tightly focused setpieces that we hardly see any more. The plot is simple and impossible to expand upon, but does all that it needs to accomplish - giving the central character a moment's pause in his life so that he can reflect on what he really has to be thankful for and redirect his ambitions towards that rather than the Hollywood star turn he had been working toward the previous decade. And as with many such films, the back-story, about the man's possible estrangement from his wife, is the real story, since, as it turns out, his marriage is the best of what life has to offer him.

Speaking about star-turns, Nestor Carbonell's performance here is exquisite. And the other actors are at there best in support of it. And the work behind the camera is highly polished.

I'm disappointed that this film is so poorly rated here. Possibly audiences have lost the patience to sit through a film that insists we think along with it. Suffice it to say, it may not be to every taste. But on its own terms it's an excellent film.

The movie is mildly amusing. The opening is pretty cute with the supposed home invasion. Rather offbeat, it should be watched just for a different viewpoint in film. Some fashion and pop culture trends at the start of the millennium can be viewed in this film, and is worth viewing for that reason alone. You can't help but feel for the main character. He is a genuinely nice guy trying to do his best. He is a talented individual that should get more roles. The movie is not bad, over all. It is an amusing way to view the inside of a K-mart. The customers are not realistic and they almost overcamp their roles. But the lead actor remains believable throughout.

The plot for this movie would make a good 10 minute sketch on SNL. It doesn't stretch to the playing time of the movie. The writing is periodically clever and sometimes amusing, but never really funny.

I think the goal was to make something like Office Space about peripheral actors on a non-sensational sitcom. But the execution isn't there. The movie tries to be serious at times but would have been better with a lighter subplot.

The movie takes the usual "everything outside Hollywood is corny and hick" attitude. K-mart, Houston -- you know, real rubes.

The only remotely developed characters are the main character (played by Enrique Suarez) and the Houston limo driver played by Michael Lerner. The latter is excellent in his role. Meanwhile, Martin Mull is very weak in a brief role as a flight attendant.

If someone forces you to watch the movie you should resist, but not so much that you might hurt yourself. It's not perfectly terrible, either.

This film was a pleasant surprise. Nestor Carbonell's screenplay was well-written and clever and obviously came from his own experience as a "faux latino" on Suddenly Susan. The literate dialogue, frequent references to Nietzsche and insightful examination on the "fame game" made this more than just a throw-away comedy. Worth renting...if only to hear Carbonell speaking without the accent.

I am a big fan of independent movies (I don't like those big budget Hollywood movies), and this one was AWESOME!! Not only was the cast great in it, but the writing was very original. This movie will make you laugh and cry - it's that good.