Revenge for Jolly! (2012) User Reviews

Big Disappointment

[laballatician · 5/10 · 11 May 2013]

I've had this movie on my Watchlist since it first popped up. A comedic overly-serious bloody revenge flick over the murder of a dog? Plus this cast? Count me in. I love "stupid" movies (see Smiley Face, The Ten).

Sadly, it's not very good.

The concept is pretty funny. The sincerity in which the characters behave adds to the ridiculousness of the plot. But there's a shockingly small amount of humor. I appreciate subtle comedy, but it's nearly non-existent here. There is a funny moment where a character freaks out about getting ranch dressing on his pants, but that's about it.

It doesn't help that the two main guys are dull and unlikeable. I wanted to root for the main guy, cuz I'd totally wanna react the same way if anyone hurt my pets, but I ended up thinking he and his cousin were just a-holes. But their real problem is they just recent interesting enough to make me care.

Finally, and worst of all, the film completely wastes Kristen Wiig. I'm all for seeing her in different kind of roles, but different here doesn't mean better.

I feel like I'm being harsh, but I feel that it would be unfair to make excuses for the film just because of the goodwill I had built up toward it. I wish I liked it more than I I did. That's probably the best thing I can say.

Unfunny insane killer rampage with great supporting role cast

[OJT · 4/10 · 18 January 2014]

This is the feature film debut of Chadd Harbold, after six short films (of which one is free to watch here on IMDb), with a script by main role man Brian Petsos, which here is Harry and really what we could say is a dog's worst friend.

The film appears to be a black comedy with a great cast, but is not as funny as you think if is.The first 15 minutes seems OK, but then we understand this isn't a black comedy. It seems like Harbold wants to make a Tarantino-flick, though it's quite far from it. The plot has a good idea, and this film could have been great. The problem is that it isn't very funny, just violent. It's so not funny, that I wonder if it's supposed to be funny at all.

It's about two low life (or no life) drinking buddies which goes on a killer rampage to revenge the killing of a small dog, Jolly. They're completely unsafe and insane, played by Brian Petsos and Oscar Isaak.

What is always great, is small supporting Rolex by know actors, and there's a bunch of them here, like Elijah Wood, Kirsten Wiig, David Rasche, Ryan Phillippe, Adam Brody, Garret Dillahunt, Kevin Corrigan, Stephen Payne, Gillian Jacobs, Amy Seimetz, Helen Rogers, Bobby Moynihan, John Di Benedetto, Brian Donahue and so on...

The wedding scene is the most violent since the Kill Bill parody "Kill Buljo", a strange mix of provoked killings and mercy killings confuses a bit. Such a shame the potent cast didn't get a better script to work with. The film ends without being fulfilled, neither do we as an audience. Obviously some talent here, stylish, and some great use of music, but it falls flat to the ground, I'm afraid. An premature unfinished film, which any remake would be better.

Who the ... is Jolly?

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 9 March 2014]

You will find out watching the movie of course. Only if you like low budget movies that are violent, with a lot of puns in them that is. The movie managed to get quite a good cast together (which partly owed to the fact, that most actors are in it for a few minutes). You'll either love that "I know him" game, that is going to happen or you're going to wish there was more meat to some characters (no pun intended).

It will be apparent where this is going early on and it might feel a bit repetitious at times (once again, swearing and blood). But while that works against the movie, it's still fun to watch. So no big surprises here, but a fun little action comedy

Moronic trash

[jimbo-53-186511 · 1/10 · 5 August 2015]

When Harry's (Brian Petsos) beloved dog Jolly is killed in mysterious circumstances he decides to track down the person responsible for killing his dog with his cousin Cecil (Oscar Isaac).

In England, we are widely considered a nation of dog lover's so in principle a film such as Revenge For Jolly could easily have worked (I'm going to assume that's it's the same story across the pond in America). This could have been a very easy film to like and could have been an easy film for an audience to become involved with, but sadly, for me, it was an awful and ungodly experience.

The initial set up is OK and the narrative establishes Harry as a very lonely person, a man whose best and only friend is a dog - he's a believable character and this aspect of the story is something that many people could easily identify with. Unfortunately, almost everything that follows practically undoes any sympathy that we may have drummed up for the protagonist. Let's look at the problems....

Well for a start, Harry is up to his eyes in debt and is on the run from some heavies (what a great way to undo any sympathy you have with a character). Despite the fact that he's initially set up as a character we can identify with, he then goes on a manhunt to find the person who killed his dog with his cousin Cecil (who isn't as bad as Harry, but is still a character that is very hard to care about). The writers then randomly switch from Cecil and Harry being stone-cold mercenaries on the hunt for Jolly's killers to care-free lads on a night out on the booze (this seems to happen a couple of times throughout the film). It seemed strange that Harry's dog's death was very traumatic to him, but yet he seemed to find it OK to get wasted during his quest to find the killer of his dog. It's billed as a 'Dark Comedy' so perhaps their goofball antics were supposed to act as some form of 'comedic relief' but their antics never made me laugh and despite the fact that the film is only about 80 minutes long I found myself continually seeing how much longer the film had left to go.

The worst part of the film comes with the eventual showdown and all I'll say is that if you're expecting a good pay-off for the unbelievable tedium that you've sat through then you're going to be disappointed. An absolute joke of a film that is easily one of the worst I've seen.

Nonsense comedy and extreme violence that did not fit together

[napierslogs · 3/10 · 20 May 2013]

"Revenge for Jolly" is a crime drama masquerading as a dark comedy. It starts out very serious. Harry (Brian Petsos) is a good guy who has done bad things and is in over his head. But then bad guys kill his dog and he and his cousin, Cecil (Oscar Isaac), are out for revenge. And then with another bad decision Harry kills a guy. Ha ha ha, isn't that hilarious?

Seriously. At that moment the film decides to take a dark crime drama and turn it into a comedy. Follow up a murder with witty repartee which should only be attempted by good writers. These are not good writers. The entire beginning of the movie was told by narration, the rest of the movie was one-off scenes with good actors. Some of which were mildly funny, most of which were extremely violent, none of which were cohesive.

This is one of the worst attempts I have ever seen at a dark comedy. The actors played it all so seriously (and frequently it was very serious) but then there would be a number of ridiculously violent acts and then they would have a ridiculous nonsense conversation to be played for laughs. I get the juxtaposition, but none of it worked together.

The lead actor couldn't play subtle at all. Isaac does a great job of playing a bad guy who isn't so bad (he can also throw in some subtle comedy) but his character was terrible. Cecil was supposedly a good guy with a bad cousin but he was just bad with no redeeming qualities. I think the writers thought that since he wasn't as vicious as Harry, the audience would like him. As for Harry, extreme pet fanatics would understand him. But has no one ever heard of moderation?

A number of good actors come in for one scene. Most of their comedy was non-sequitors, and most really weren't funny. I did laugh at Adam Brody and Bobby Moynihan playing unscrupulous lawyers, but that was just the beginning of one scene. Most of the comedy was to come from the dialogue, but it was terrible dialogue and shouldn't be uttered by any actor no matter what the skill level.

I do at least understand why all of the big name actors agreed to be in it. What's the one type of scene that all actors love? Well, they all get to do it. I don't think that's a good reason to be in a movie, but that's for a different discussion. The problem with "Revenge for Jolly" is that it couldn't get across what kind of movie it was. Is it a crime drama? Or a dark comedy? How about a satire of a crime drama? Or is it a satire of a dark comedy? There was crimes and there was comedy but they didn't go together.

Just Plain Bad

[mike-wangler · 1/10 · 7 July 2013]

Serious Dog Lover here and fan of dark comedies and off beat movies. This movie however is just plain terrible.

The dog violence at the beginning of the movie is intense - the violence that follows is worse.

Violence just for violence sake isn't entertainment - and this movie just fails. After Sandy Hook, you think we would all have more of an understanding of that.

Here is what you need to know about this movie. The movie follows two losers through a violent day. Apparently 911 service wasn't working that day - so the murders just keep on piling up... in scene after scene...

Id like to find one good thing to say about the film but I can't. I'm sure the actors could have done more - but there wasn't much of a script here... And I'm not sure how the actors didn't notice that...

Wonderfully dark and twisted...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 20 December 2015]

This movie was a wonderful surprise, and the dark, twisted comedy used here was just phenomenal. If you like offbeat comedies, then "Revenge for Jolly!" is definitely one to watch.

The story is quite simple, but still very entertaining given the situations and the colorful characters. The story is about Harry coming home to find his beloved dog Jolly dead, and then Harry sets out to find the one who killed his dog.

It is the outrageous characters in particular that really adds flavor to this movie. And there were some great talents on the cast list and some familiar faces here and there, which was quite nice.

While this is a comedy, it is not a movie with comedy that will make you laugh yourself crazy. However, the comedy here is so bizarre and outrageous that it just works out quite nicely. I enjoyed this oddball comedy and was rather entertained by it, and I am glad that I took the time to sit down and watch "Revenge for Jolly!".

Dog eared

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 12 September 2015]

Well after 20 years after he burst on to the scene with his take on the gory, dark comedy thriller genre there are still Quentin Tarantino fanboys who think its easy to make such films.

Revenge for Jolly is revenge drama as Harry (Brian Petsos) in debt to some bad guys finds out that they killed his dog and he is not happy.

Along with his cousin Cecil (Oscar Isaac) they go out for revenge which involves killing lots of other people even if they are not that bad. There are scenes of violence mixed in with silly conversations, getting wasted and tagged on narration none of which makes the film funny or dark.

So much bloodshed over one dog which involves Harry killing even one of his friends, no police in sight and lots of star cameos many of them wasted

Oscar Isaac is too good for this type of picture. Writer and star Brian Petsos needs to learn what makes a Tarantino film tick.

I actually enjoyed this movie! 7/10

[leonblackwood · 7/10 · 3 May 2014]

Review: They should rename this movie to One Man & His Dog! Anyway, for some unknown reason, I actually enjoyed this crazy movie. The mad situations that the duo find themselves in, really made me laugh and they were shockingly, witty and quirky. The 2 actors that play the leads were a great choice by the director because they are total opposites. One man is completely focused on catching the guy who killed his dog, while the other guy is rational and just out to help cousin. The music throughout the movie, set the tempo well and it's obvious that other people liked the script, judging by the amount of stars that are in it. Anyway, it's a great roller coaster ride that ends abruptly, but will make you laugh. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: It's not very often that I say this about movies, but this film could have done with an extra half an hour. The storyline was well put together by the director, but there was some gaps that needed to be filled. I was hoping for a big showdown at the end, but the director chose to leave it up to the audience to come up with there own assumption. I haven't seen the guy that plays the lead before, so I can't really comment on his previous performances, but in this movie you do believe that he would die for his dog. Anyway, on the whole, it's worth a watch just for its originality and funny scenes.

I recommend this movie to people who are into there comedy thrillers about a man whose out to revenge the mysterious death of his dog. 7/10

Self indulgent and offensively violent

[timlundberg · 1/10 · 11 August 2015]

I have lost a lot of respect for a bunch of actors who should know better. A terrible film by spoilt Hollywood idiots taken with the idea that it is OK and hilarious for poor disenfranchised commoners to shoot each other to bits for no reason. I guess the star and writer and all the others who indulged in this morally bankrupt attempt at comedy couldn't see that it is idiotic with no redeeming factors, terrible script, awful acting.

Pointlessly violent and attempting to play to some misconceived idea of hip, this film has no heart, no humanity and there is nothing to learn or see here. Stay away from this drivel and don't indulge the idea that there is some kind of black humour at work here, there isn't.

Great! Unconventional One of a Kind.

[fowlranger · 9/10 · 10 May 2013]

I love a good revenge movie. I also love a good comedy. This movie didn't seem to be either of those, but I still really enjoyed the ride. When I watched the movie to it's conclusion I was severely disappointed, but the more I think about it the more I get satisfaction from the ending. What you see on screen is sometimes silly, sometimes dark, and at times may seem slow. However, it is what is just off of the screen that seems to have so much depth. The unseen emotion and depth of Harry's Character is felt through his actions against other's in society. Although we might agree it's a bit harsh, the Rude Bartenders, Psycho Hookers, Douschebag lawyers, all finally get consequences for there actions.

Perhaps it's a warning tale. I know I'm going to be a bit more polite to people in the future.

Bobinho...

[RosanaBotafogo · 6/10 · 19 May 2020]

No joke, a drug addict who wants to kill the death of Jolly, her little dog... Bobinho...

Its an over the top dark comedy

[brailsford · 5/10 · 3 December 2014]

This movie kind of felt like a lost episode of the soprano's only more insane. One man comes home to find his tiny dog murdered and then goes on a killing spree to avenge the poor pooch with the help of his equally insane cousin. Imagine Frank Castle had a pet cat he loved dearly and found out the someone took the cat and killed it but he doesn't know that the king pin was behind the murder and goes out with dead pool looking for answers... that gives you an idea of what comes next in this film. I can't recommend the movie for everyone but if your in the mood for a dark comedy thriller it has its moments and some over the top hammy acting and ludicrous violence, so it might make your night.

So bad it's insulting

[labng · 1/10 · 15 January 2020]

I hope this was a joke. Or a business loss for tax purposes.

Have you done all your chores...

[preemptiveselfdefense · 4/10 · 16 May 2013]

...because if you spend the next hour and a half watching this, then that toilet isn't going to clean itself. Maybe that's too obscure? I should preface this by saying that I did not watch the entire movie. Some may feel (myself somewhat included) that I don't have the ability to give a comprehensive review. Well, screw it; I'm going to anyway. Here are my thoughts:

I had this movie for a week or so and got it because it sounded good, but every time I went to watch a movie something else always looked better. I actually went on here looking for a little push to make myself watch it. At that point there were only two reviews so I figured I'd be the tiebreaker and watch it.

Well, as you already know, I didn't make it. It's one of those movie that isn't good in this amorphous, hard-to-define way. Like you can analyze specific things and it all checks out but stick it all together and it's a big suck-fest. There's plenty of wonderful celebrities but the few I saw just pop in and out (that could change later on). It's basically a movie about those two guys that no one's heard of.

Someone asked, "Who the hell is Brian Pestos?" or whatever they said. Something like that. Anyway, I don't know either but I don't like his face. No, that shouldn't be the deciding factor in whether a movie has merit. On the other hand, if you can't stand looking at someone and they're in practically every scene then you've got a problem. I felt greasier just watching him. You'll want to splash some cold water on your face ahead of time.

Before I dump on this movie anymore, I will say that it could possibly be good and I just wasn't in the mood. But that does tell me that it's one of those movies you've got to work with to enjoy and that's asking a lot of me. I'm an American and I deserve instant gratification w/as little effort as humanly possible. So yeah, this movie's horrible now cuz I say so, haha. Eh, I won't get rid of it just yet, but if I had to say, I'd say it sucks.

It aint a real comedy, it aint a real gangster movie either. It wants to be quirky and cool, but it's merely a failed attempt at that. Leading actor is flat and boring.

[imseeg · 3/10 · 10 October 2019]

It aint a real comedy, it aint a real gangster movie either. It wants to be quirky and cool, but it's merely a failed attempt at that. Leading actor is flat and boring.

What a waste of talent: Oscar Isaac, Elijah Wood, Kristen Wiig, the latter two only have a very small supporting role of less than 5 minutes. Still, these are brilliant actors, but they are miscast. The wrong roles, for the wrong person in the wrong story. Let's talk BRIEFLY about the story: there basically is none. No one goes on a murder rampage, killing innocent people, who had nothing to do with the murder of the dog to begin with. Even a comedy has to have some credibility. This one has none.

Is it all bad? Not right away. At the start, it has potential to become something good, because the actors are still good, the intent to make something special was present as well. It simply didnt happen. But it gets worse, because this movie gets worse and worse further into the story. It is meant to be funny, but it simply isnt. It aint shocking either. Nor quirky or strange. It is simply another FAILED attempt at making a Tarantino copy...

Entertaining

[calicut110 · 6/10 · 21 August 2020]

It's definitely not as bad as some of these reviews say. Yes it's pretty pointless and unbelievable at times. But it's easy to follow, has some tension all throughout, and kept me curious for what's next. Not something to write home about but it's definitely entertaining

Decent

[solidabs · 5/10 · 6 November 2020]

It was a decent movie. I mean it had me laughing a few times. All that killing for a dog was hilarious. We have a world full of animal dip sheets who probably think there is nothing wrong with this guys revenge. That makes it even funnier.

Decent fun

[coleyemde · 7/10 · 10 January 2021]

While trying to kill time during quarantined with COVID-19, I'm watching anything and everything. This movie has a great cast and comical moments that made me laugh out loud while watching alone. Gets a little sidetracked but worth the watch.

It's more like a revenge to the audience than it is for Jolly!

[jordondave-28085 · 1/10 · 20 April 2023]

(2012) Revenge For Jolly!

COMEDY CRIME DRAMA

Co-produced, co-written and starred Brian Petsos as Harry, going on a killing spree to find and locate a hillbilly named Bachmeier (Ryan Phillipe), as a result of an unjust killing of his dog, named, Jolly-hence the title. Because it's supposed to be a dark comedy, I did not see there was a single thing that was even remotely funny. It's only intention was toward a specific demographic, who can see through all of the senseless violence. I cringed with realistic effect. Also stars is Kristen Wiig, Elijah Wood, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Brody as he plays Danny.

Watch it again!

[contact-684-521392 · 8/10 · 13 May 2013]

I couldn't wait to download this movie. My friend tweeted that he loved it. I watched it and honestly I didn't really understand it and wasn't that into it at first. And the ending made me really angry. I won't spoil it for you. I kept thinking about it the next day and watched it again with my girlfriend who has a dog and is a huge dog lover and that's when I understood it. There is some genius in this film. It is an independent movie not a Hollywood movie, even though there are some big time movie stars in it. People are comparing it to Tarantino but that's not a good comparison. It never treats the violence or the conversation like the way Tarantino would. There are a few scenes where there is long dialog but I think it was needed at those points. There are a lot of quiet sections which I really liked and then it will hit you with these obviously funny sections. And I realized that was kind of making me angry to but my girlfriend pointed out how the main guy seems so broken hearted and the actor is basically doing a serious performance. His friend keeps trying to help him and goes along with him all around the town for the whole day, and it is repetitive but I realized that's what is so good about it! The director has to be doing this on purpose. Things keep getting worse and worse and it leads right up to the very end. Again I'm not going to spoil it. The two main guys were great and the guest stars were mostly hilarious, except one was a wasted performance. After watching it a second time I realized that I think it's supposed to make you angry because it's pulling you through this voyage and then it ends how it does. Yes there are plenty of laughs kind of like "the office" type humor but it is the whole thing that made me feel like it was a sick joke but in a really good way. It is really a black black comedy. Now I love this movie.

Oscar isaac is hot

[gianoelle-13942 · 3/10 · 20 May 2022]

So I just watched this movie for the cast and I'm almost positive with any other cast I would have liked it a lot less, but anyway this movie was sub par. It had me laughing at some parts especially when two characters are out eating Mexican and can't decide what to get and the whole outrageous idea of the whole movie is kind of funny.

I digress, I would not recommend this movie, but if you do want to see Oscar Isaac being absolutely gorgeous for an hour and a half by all means do watch.

Fun, interesting and funny

[ilovedawko · 8/10 · 13 August 2015]

I really enjoyed this movie.

The plot is darkly funny, with elements of Kill Bill and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but all with an absurdist twist.

The main characters are both strangely believable, in amongst all the insanity of the plot. Their emotional connection is plausible and well done.

Cartoon violence is interspersed with some relatively poignant and deep dialogue. If you have seen Llewyn Davis then one side of the dialogue will seem vaguely familiar - the same actor brings his brooding, terse delivery to this movie with good effect.

Overall, I would definitely recommend watching this. Ideally late at night after a few drinks for authenticity...

I'M A GOOD GUY WHO HAS DONE BAD THINGS

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 28 July 2018]

This is a quirky dark comedy that is rather pointless and moves slow. In spite of that I found myself enjoying the characters and the scenes.

After an all night visit of Harry (Brian Petsos) with his cousin Cecil (Oscar Isaac) drinking beers and playing Candyland, the unkempt Harry comes to find that his dog Jolly, the love of his life, has committed a "Philadelphia suicide." Clearly Harry has made someone angry, a conversation of which we get bits and pieces. Our beer drinking, pill popping, dreary eyed, greasy haired twosome set out to find the killer, leaving a trail of blood as they go.

I found myself laughing at this low budget Redbox rental. This is not Tarantino grade dark comedy, but clearly he was an influence. Enjoyable, slow at times, especially the beginning. Things pick up about the time Elijah Wood enters the film. Well worth a rental. Will add to my collection when the price drops.

Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex. No nudity.