Queenpins

This has got to be one of best films I have seen during the Pandemic...in a time when comedies are few, this was a pleasant surprize. And the fact it was based on a true story makes it a very funny slice of life.

I was kind of reluctant to watch this - a scam by two girls involving grocery coupons didn't sound too promising. In fact, however, it has produced a sweet, funny and very well made film. It moves along at a really good pace and you quickly find yourself rooting for the two of them. The script is sharp and witty and Kristen Bell is delightful in the main part. Not an Oscar nominee but highly entertaining. And the fact that it was inspired by real events gives it an extra edge.

Coupons... so many coupons....

Wow this actually happened. A coupon scam that costed companies millions of dollars masterminded by two jobless ladies. This was some next level utilization of coupons. At first they just stockpiled coupons that they got from the mail and used them all at once. However, things became out of hand when they came up with the new business that crossed the line of legality.

The way the story was told was done many times before in other crime thrillers that started out with a character getting arrested and then retold how that happened. However, there's a good amount of comedy that reflected the ridiculousness of the story. The first two third of the movie I enjoyed quite a bit, but then after the fallout the story became lackluster and the impact didn't land with me.

The character I liked the most was Ken Miller, played wonderfully by Paul Walter Hauser. The dude was just hilarious and goofy. I cracked up couple of times when he was on the screen. He also had good chemistry with Vince Vaughn's character. Another character that I liked was Bebe Rexha's character. She had little screen time, but she owned her lines and looked amazing.

Another problem I had was the runtime. Usually the pacing was slow, and the story took too long to get to its destination. Near the end I was kinda checking out and didn't care much about the ending.

Overall, a ridiculous real-life story with some funny moments, but the story execution could be improved. 6.5/10.

This is a fun little movie about some women who sell stolen coupons on the internet.

The premise is simple but solid. The film rests squarely on Kirsten and Kirby who are more than up for the task and they were great to watch.

This could have been an absolute low-end classic like "Office Space" or "Mad Money" but it tries a little too hard to make this truly worth your time.

The story has a lot of bloat to it that so easily could have been cut. The husband feels like he should be integral to the plot but is superfluous. He is only there to be a one dimensional butt-hole for Kristen to rail against. If anything it makes her character come across unnecessarily cold - "I don't need you as I have loads of money now so see you later sucker!".

To pad the film out there is some toilet humour and over-acting jokes that just don't land.

The relationship between the investigators was a nice touch but it feels like they couldn't decide what to do with the Loss Prevention officer and he sometimes felt like a cartoon character: stupid and irrelevant rather than a loveable buffoon.

The plot strays in to silly-land with the hacker character and never really gets back on to solid ground, so any sense of tension was lost and it ended up being a full on comedy and I lost interest in the final outcome.

Overall this is bouncy and fun with an adequate production and some funny jokes. It is good for a Sunday afternoon if you want something new but I think it only has one watch in it.

If you're looking for a crime movie that's completely unserious, this movie fits the bill. It follows two women who create a coupon scam and get rich. Overall, I think it does a pretty good job of combining the comedy with the more serious crime topic. The whole thing is lighthearted, but it also provides a decent demonstration of white collar crime.

I will say it's a fairly forgettable movie- more so something to pass the time than anything really great. Some of the jokes just don't land at all, and a few of the characters just feel... weird. But overall, it's still enjoyable and a pretty good time.