first caught snippets while flipping channels, each time watched a little more, knew i had to catch it from the start, and was just blown away when i did.
i loved the pacing, the development, the structure (especially how it starts as the Gamblers Anon meeting speech, which then catches up to itself mid-story). i loved the casting, the 4 buddies -- this is definitely "a guys movie" -- women were very secondary in the characters' lives -- that's why Shane doesn't have a clue what to do when he likes a girl. and the nerdy guy who keeps making the buzz-kill comments -- i love the way he was written into their crew. it always seemed like there was one of those guys around. and i love how the guys tell him to shut up & go away, but he keeps hanging around.
and Jed Rees! who is similarly great in Men With Brooms and the Chris Issac show -- i'm lovin' this guy more every time i see him. and he really goes for it in this one. he's got a Nicholson or Spader-like half-craziness in his characterizations -- but not sinister axe-murderer Jack, more self-destructive crazy, Canadian-crazy, half unhinged, but the worst thing he'll do is attack a table -- a Canadian crazy-Jack. love it. mesmerizing crazy eyes & face.
maybe it's cuz i lived thru that time, but it was all so real -- the first crummy house, typing in the kitchen, the ratty couch and TV, oh, and the stubbies!! props to the props peeps! and Shane's shyness around the girl. and all the twists at the end when Shane keeps losing it to this addiction of gambling, which i don't know much about, but this sure took me into that world -- how this non-gambling guy can fall so deep so quick.
and how the story is set around the '72 series -- i thought that was just great. somebody needed to do it. a real-world Shakespearian drama, and weaving all these different personalities into it.
it appears really low-budget/indi, but Real Well Done low-budget -- the way it should be.
