Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something that blows...such is the screenplay of "Desperate...", a kookie comedy about an all night odyssey of two ditzy females through the clubs and parties of Hollyweird. Brewster gets all the good lines and steals the show while Taylor plays straight man in this lukewarm low budget little comedy which has it's moments, few and far between though they may be. Recommended for young adult females who, at this writing, have not voted sufficiently on IMDB.com to offset to inordinately low marks given by the male audiences.
18 Reviews
Don't take this movie Seriously ? ? ?
Pat197321 May 2000
First of all this movie should have never been made. It's about two girls that go from party to party and all they do is try to find this guy who one of the girls likes or really loves. The performance of Joey Lawrence is the only reason I saw this movie at all. I really don't know what Joey was thinking but we all have to start out somewhere. His talent is wasted here and so is the rest of the cast. The cast if you have seen there other movies are very good but just skip this one. You will not find anything funny or entertaining at all. I'm sorry I even bought this movie. I actually bought it before I rented it. I just got done watching and I said "What the heck is this crap". I know this cast can do better! Joey I love ya but just did not work in this film. Out of 4 stars I give it 1/2. I had such high hopes for this film too.
Great film.You can't keep a straight face all the way through
stigs8429 April 2000
As a big Christine Taylor fan,this film rocked. In her first starring role, she totally captivates the audience. She plays Lili, a clumsy romantic, who comes to LA for one night, to visit her b/f at a wedding. She stays w/her old friend,Francis, a party girl alcoholic. They go to a Hollywood party before the wedding, but lose the address. What ensues is a bunch of hilarious mishaps as nothing goes right and EVERYTHING goes wrong. Will Lili be able to get to the wedding on time and find her boyfriend?Will Francis sober up long enough to think straight?Rent this funny,fantastic flick and find out for yourself
Seriously wishing I hadn't watched this movie...
sklug2 February 2001
This was almost the worst movie I have ever seen. I think the actors were trying, but with this movie's script they never stood a chance. Nothing about this movie was entertaining; not the "Lily Lily Lily!" allusion to Christine Taylor's role as Marsha in the Brady Bunch Movie, not the endless vibrator jokes, and certainly not the time I wasted watching it.
The worst part of their job....
nitestar9512 June 2006
If you've ever had a day at work, and just knew 'this is as bad as it can get', then you know how the 'name' actors in this film must feel. It's something they had to do for a paycheck. Or as a favor for a friend. But no one in their right mind would ever be part of this trash if they had any other choice. It appears to have been written in the 2 hours before a deadline; story all over the place with random banter as dialogue. Characters that no one would find interesting. No; I'm wrong. The characters are repulsive. Typical pretty, brainless women, and self absorbed men. I watched it all the way through simply because I rented it, and hate to waste money. Instead, I wasted my time. It's one of those movies you can walk out of to go to the bathroom, go pick up a pizza, and come back and feel as if you missed nothing at all. You'd be better off watching a decent TV show. It might not be the worst movie of all time, but it's close.
Total waste of time. SPOILER TO FOLLOW, if that's possible.
mgvolpe124 October 2010
Warning: Spoilers
How to spoil this movie, that in my opinion would be impossible, it is such a hodge-podge of poor acting and directing I wonder how they got somebody to put up the cash to make it. I could barely get past the first 5 or so minutes, the music was gratingly terrible along with the singers voice and phrasing. I had to 'mute', it to get past it. Nothing after that gets any better. I think the dog was probably the best actor in the movie. I don't understand why John Corbett lowered his standards to appear in this disjointed garbage. I fast forwarded through most of the film looking for something that would prove fruitful. But, alas, that was not to happen until the two stars were sitting on the plane enjoying each others company. Even the crap during the closing credits was preoccupied with homosexual references all the way to the end. Anyhow if you want to see a movie worse than, 'forces of nature', 'code unknown','along came polly' and Wesley Snipes' all time clunker, 'Liberty Stands Still'. This is the flick for you.
Hilarious Damsels-in-Distress Comedy!
SwatchDog6 January 2001
In the grand tradition of Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, A Night at the Roxbury, Mystery Date and Adventures in Babysitting comes the latest zany night-on-the-town "where everything goes wrong" comedy, Desperate but Not Serious.
Set entirely in Los Angeles, we meet wild-party girl Francis and her sweet but naive friend Lily whose evening backfires (they misplace the invitation to an important wedding party, they're stalked by a psychotic bartender and they crash their car, among other situations)
Performances here are exceptional. Paget Brewster (who looks a lot like Parker Posey) exudes talent, beauty and charisma. I loved how she growled at the airport ticket agent and her whole airhead self-indulgent attitude. Christine Taylor in the role of Lily is great. She's funny [especially when saying the wrong things] and effective in raising empathy at times from the audience. John Corbett was fine as Lily's significant other, but suffered from lack of character development and screen-time. Supporting roles including Musician Henry Rollins as a menacing bartender, Joey Lawrence as a dim-witted celebrity, Max Perlich as a sleazy womaniser and Judy Greer as a bitchy "executive assistant" are nothing short of perfect. The "L.A. artificiality" of these characters is hilarious and adds to the plot well. Finally Claudia Schiffer rounds out the top cast as Gigi, a wild musician and college student who "majors in everything". Gigi acts as a Greek Chorus somewhat, dictating much of the action before it happens, before transforming into a guiding spirit of some sort. Some of her lines sound a bit flat (as though she's trying to speak in a bubbly accent), but she shows promise.
Desperate but Not Serious is a fabulous independent movie and deserves a wider audience. It's not to be taken seriously, instead with an "open mind". Relax, pour yourself a drink, Kick your feet up and enjoy Desperate but Not Serious, one of the best overlooked films of 1999/2000.
10/10
Set entirely in Los Angeles, we meet wild-party girl Francis and her sweet but naive friend Lily whose evening backfires (they misplace the invitation to an important wedding party, they're stalked by a psychotic bartender and they crash their car, among other situations)
Performances here are exceptional. Paget Brewster (who looks a lot like Parker Posey) exudes talent, beauty and charisma. I loved how she growled at the airport ticket agent and her whole airhead self-indulgent attitude. Christine Taylor in the role of Lily is great. She's funny [especially when saying the wrong things] and effective in raising empathy at times from the audience. John Corbett was fine as Lily's significant other, but suffered from lack of character development and screen-time. Supporting roles including Musician Henry Rollins as a menacing bartender, Joey Lawrence as a dim-witted celebrity, Max Perlich as a sleazy womaniser and Judy Greer as a bitchy "executive assistant" are nothing short of perfect. The "L.A. artificiality" of these characters is hilarious and adds to the plot well. Finally Claudia Schiffer rounds out the top cast as Gigi, a wild musician and college student who "majors in everything". Gigi acts as a Greek Chorus somewhat, dictating much of the action before it happens, before transforming into a guiding spirit of some sort. Some of her lines sound a bit flat (as though she's trying to speak in a bubbly accent), but she shows promise.
Desperate but Not Serious is a fabulous independent movie and deserves a wider audience. It's not to be taken seriously, instead with an "open mind". Relax, pour yourself a drink, Kick your feet up and enjoy Desperate but Not Serious, one of the best overlooked films of 1999/2000.
10/10
Dumb but charming, like its lead characters
seltzer2 November 2001
This is not a great movie, and maybe even good is too strong a word, but there is something goofily charming about it and I got sucked into watching it. Christine Taylor is cute and ostensibly the lead in search of her perfect match, played by John Corbett. It's a trite storyline but at least it lets the rest of the film happen. Paget Brewster is her hip would-be actress friend who leads her around LA from one party to another in search of her friends guy. So, it's a horrible story with a predictable ending, but the parties they go to and the people they meet are a bunch of nice jabs at the movie industry and the culture around it. Claudia Schiffer and Joey Lawrence appear and cameos by some mid-grade stars only add to the comedy. The scenes with Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn are the funniest things to ever be recorded on film in the history of film. A mediocre movie with lots of treats to make it worth watching, and Paget Brewster is impossibly cute. Watch all the way to the end of the credits to see the funniest scenes in the film.
BEST MOVJE
emmaegrass1 May 2022
I'm with the girl before. She seems really cool and sexy. Also Paget's best roll ever. I honestly agrees with whatever the girl ahead of me said. I love Frances and Lily. I think true to heart i am a Frances. The girl before knows what she's talking about tho. Xoxo.
Worst vanity movie of all time!
jbelkin80025 August 2001
I don't know the real story behind the genesis and making of this film but it seems to have been made by an un-talented offspring of a Hollywood agent or TV producer.
They were obviously able to pull in a lot of favors in dragging in a bunch of semi-famous TV actors - everybody was scared to say no and didn't want to risk offending the powerful parent.
You know any movie is in trouble when the best actor in a movie is Joey Lawrence and Claudia Schiffer is second.
There are probably 10,000 unproduced scripts in Hollywood about fringe Hollywood players and their story in modern day Hollywood/LA. You know the cliches - usually, it's some unattractive schlub cruisng the Strip, the Hills, etc ... with his best bud - making the scene - all the name of ripping the lid off of the true Hollywood. Of course, it's not very revealing or interesting - SWINGERS is probably the exception to the rule. They get credit for casting a woman in the lead, Paiget Brewster (TV actor) but they made (with her help) her character shrill, annoying, un-likeable, vile and like the men who played the exact same part in 1,000 movies before her - making her so unattractive you wonder why anyone would care what happens to her.
The story - riddled with a million bad cliches ultimately even gets smaller - and ends as a tribute to "Pink Dot" - the ultimate Hollywood insider wink-wink. AS IF WE CARE!!!!! It's not even funny or clever - there's no point in explaining what Pink Dot is but here goes (it's a late night delivery service - the Hollywood webvan except they've been around for 20 years) - are you laughing yet?
This is a movie where the kid of a powerful person decided to make a movie - since their life's experience amounted to hanging out with second-rate wanna-be's and ordering from Pink Dot - that's the movie! Now, you figure how many favors you can call in and you write the story around when they can show up.
There are cable access shows with more imagination.
Just bad.
They were obviously able to pull in a lot of favors in dragging in a bunch of semi-famous TV actors - everybody was scared to say no and didn't want to risk offending the powerful parent.
You know any movie is in trouble when the best actor in a movie is Joey Lawrence and Claudia Schiffer is second.
There are probably 10,000 unproduced scripts in Hollywood about fringe Hollywood players and their story in modern day Hollywood/LA. You know the cliches - usually, it's some unattractive schlub cruisng the Strip, the Hills, etc ... with his best bud - making the scene - all the name of ripping the lid off of the true Hollywood. Of course, it's not very revealing or interesting - SWINGERS is probably the exception to the rule. They get credit for casting a woman in the lead, Paiget Brewster (TV actor) but they made (with her help) her character shrill, annoying, un-likeable, vile and like the men who played the exact same part in 1,000 movies before her - making her so unattractive you wonder why anyone would care what happens to her.
The story - riddled with a million bad cliches ultimately even gets smaller - and ends as a tribute to "Pink Dot" - the ultimate Hollywood insider wink-wink. AS IF WE CARE!!!!! It's not even funny or clever - there's no point in explaining what Pink Dot is but here goes (it's a late night delivery service - the Hollywood webvan except they've been around for 20 years) - are you laughing yet?
This is a movie where the kid of a powerful person decided to make a movie - since their life's experience amounted to hanging out with second-rate wanna-be's and ordering from Pink Dot - that's the movie! Now, you figure how many favors you can call in and you write the story around when they can show up.
There are cable access shows with more imagination.
Just bad.
Silly comedy with beautiful women.
insomniac_rod19 August 2005
Little known comedy about two best friends and their misadventures starring the always beautiful actresses Christine Taylor and Paget Brewster.
The situations are silly but manage to be entertaining.
The movie asks for Paget Brewster's performance. She is great for the role. She's such a good but underrated actress. Christine Taylor delivers a believable performance, she always does. The rest of the cast is just OK. Claudia Schiffer's character does not ask for much and it's always nice to see Joey Lawrence in his typical b-movie performances.
Watch this movie as an okay way to kill half an hour. It's not a good movie but it's not certainly a terrible one. If you watch the movie because it has beautiful women you might also like it. I did.
The situations are silly but manage to be entertaining.
The movie asks for Paget Brewster's performance. She is great for the role. She's such a good but underrated actress. Christine Taylor delivers a believable performance, she always does. The rest of the cast is just OK. Claudia Schiffer's character does not ask for much and it's always nice to see Joey Lawrence in his typical b-movie performances.
Watch this movie as an okay way to kill half an hour. It's not a good movie but it's not certainly a terrible one. If you watch the movie because it has beautiful women you might also like it. I did.
pretty funny
timu5915 January 2002
It was one of those movies that you strictly for fun. If you are trying to watch for Oscar winning performances than forget it. It is a movie that you just want to escape the daily routine and watch. The best performance is Joey Lawrence as a stoner movie star, pretty amusing.
Certainly Not Serious...
aristotlewilde19 April 2002
Although at first glance, this movie looks terrible, I really enjoyed it. With appearances by people such as Vincent Gallo, Henry Rollins, and the oh so hot Stacey Sanchez, it kept my attention (even with the 20 other movie channels available on digital cable).
I often wonder how an L.A.-centric film will be accepted by people who have no Los Angeles experience. For instance, this film's constant Pink Dot references. Does Joe Nobody in Peoria get the joke??
Maybe as an aspiring screenwriter, I should toss the idea of writing for middle America and just right for Larry Studioexecstein. As long as he likes it, I get the greenlight right??
Your thoughts are welcome...
I often wonder how an L.A.-centric film will be accepted by people who have no Los Angeles experience. For instance, this film's constant Pink Dot references. Does Joe Nobody in Peoria get the joke??
Maybe as an aspiring screenwriter, I should toss the idea of writing for middle America and just right for Larry Studioexecstein. As long as he likes it, I get the greenlight right??
Your thoughts are welcome...
I've watching this one million times and I can't get enough
desperatebutnotseriouslover10 June 2023
My favorite movie of all time. The ultimate party girl movie. Very fun and easy to throw on with a group. Paget Brewster is a national treasure- Frances is my all time favorite role of hers! The title does not lie I've seen this more times than I can count (sometimes multiple times a day) every person I've showed this movie to has adored it. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!! Watch immediately.
You would not expect all these stars to be in this 'forgotten' 90s movie... but they are (hilarious). Almost every line of this movie is quotable! This will always be my favorite (and the best) movie of all time.
You would not expect all these stars to be in this 'forgotten' 90s movie... but they are (hilarious). Almost every line of this movie is quotable! This will always be my favorite (and the best) movie of all time.
Three girls one night things are gonna get crazy
Danny200021 April 2000
This movie was a great movie about three Girls one of which Is Christine Taylor the second was Paget Brewster and third with a very small part played by Claudia Schiffer who has a really annoying part as a Singer at night clubs this was a funny movie and It all happens in one night and If you like love stories Christine Taylor is after the guy of her dreams throughout the whole movie This is one of the parts of the story the fact that Christine Taylor has to get to Her boyfriend before He leaves to His home town will she make it See it for yourself!!!
An annoying valley-girl, party movie, the likes of which went out of style in the 80's.
TheVid30 September 2002
This childish escapade featuring a couple of California bimbos shouldn't appeal to anyone, thanks to the labored humor and mindless performances. What this picture lacks is what it really needs: the leads should have taken their clothes off as often as possible to offset their acting abilities. Everyone is noticeably taller than Joey Lawrence in this movie.
Fun, if you strictly follow the title.
liutauras8 October 2001
Love story with great sence of humor. Don't take as real, just enjoy any part or the whole. Good for watching at home in pair. Relax, don't expect romance or any sweet stuff, be "desperate, but not serious" - you will have fun. And listen to the song that Ms. Schiffer is singing - this is the art of it own.
Should Have Been An Alan Smithee!
Jeremy-3426 August 2002
The title is very appropriate. Anyone associated with this film had to be desperate and not at all serious.
I can't even begin to imagine why anyone would want his or her name attached to this project. Especially the writers! Who would admit to this? There's no wit or purpose to any of the dialogue. It's like watching bad improv.
And the Pink Dot jokes? I've lived in LA for a long time and they're STILL not funny.
This is bad, so bad. I'm upset that I wasted this much energy hating this movie. I can't believe I sat and watched it when somewhere in the world there was paint drying that I could have watched instead.
I can't even begin to imagine why anyone would want his or her name attached to this project. Especially the writers! Who would admit to this? There's no wit or purpose to any of the dialogue. It's like watching bad improv.
And the Pink Dot jokes? I've lived in LA for a long time and they're STILL not funny.
This is bad, so bad. I'm upset that I wasted this much energy hating this movie. I can't believe I sat and watched it when somewhere in the world there was paint drying that I could have watched instead.
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