Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Adam Sandler | ... | Barry Egan | |
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Jason Andrews | ... | Operator Carter (voice) |
Don McManus | ... | Plastic (voice) | |
Emily Watson | ... | Lena Leonard | |
Luis Guzmán | ... | Lance | |
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David Schrempf | ... | Customer #1 |
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Seann Conway | ... | Customer #2 |
Rico Bueno | ... | Rico | |
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Hazel Mailloux | ... | Rhonda |
Karen Kilgariff | ... | Anna (voice) | |
Julie Hermelin | ... | Kathleen | |
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Salvador Curiel | ... | Sal |
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Jorge Barahona | ... | Jorge |
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Ernesto Quintero | ... | Ernesto |
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Julius Steuer | ... | Mechanic |
Barry Egan hates himself and hates his life. The only male among eight siblings, Barry is treated poorly by his overbearing sisters. Despite owning his own business, he has gotten nowhere in life largely because of his insecurities. He leads a solitary life, which allows him to hide his violent outbursts that occur when he's frustrated. His solitude however allows him to think, he stumbling upon a scheme to travel the world on a pittance, travel which he has never done. Concurrently, he meets two people who pull him in two different directions. The first is Lena Leonard, a friend of his sister Elizabeth. Barry is slow to realize that Lena is attracted to him, he making her make all the first moves. Lena is eventually able to get Barry out of his shell, she who sticks around despite his obvious problems. His burgeoning relationship and thus new life with Lena is threatened by the second, "Georgia", who he contacted in an effort to alleviate his loneliness. Georgia and her "band of ... Written by Huggo
Boy, did this movie disappoint a lot of people.....but not me. The "disappointed" were the Adam Sandler fans who expected another "Happy Gilmore"-type character, the kind of goofball the comedian has built a career on portraying. Instead, they got a dark comedy/drama that was anything but the typical Sandler fare. They also got a weird story.
I had the advantage of knowing what to expect, and that helped a lot. Also, I guess I've watched too many movies because I am beginning to like some of these oddball films....and this one certainly qualifies as "odd." I thought the mixture of dark humor, drama, suspense and romance all made for a fascinating film. You just never knew what was coming next, something funny or something horrifying. This is definitely something different and I suspect one of those movies you'll either really like or really hate.
I supposed it helped I like Emily Watson, who is the female love interest in here. No one that nice would keep seeing a wacko like Sandler's character in here, but that's the movies for you. In most cases, you have to suspend your belief.
The storyline, whether pleasant or very unpleasant, got me involved and the camera-work in here was interesting, too. In summary, it's a curiosity piece for those who like something different. Just don't expect a happy, hilarious Happy Gilmore.