By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Joshua Safdie
Starring: Andy Spade | Ariel Schulman | Elonore Hendricks | Joshua Safdie
Country: united_states
Year: 2009
Running time: 71
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1189259/
Toni says: “I am advising you strongly against seeing this film. This makes mumblecore films look bad if they were not bad enough. I nominate as this year’s FROWNLAND.
“A kleptomaniac wanders around and attempts to cross boundaries and is extremely annoying, not much happens, and the shooting is purposely poor and scenes are all absurd…like police letting her walk around in a zoo after getting caught going through a woman’s purse in broad daylight. The annoying little actress co-wrote this horrid piece and her bicyclist brief ‘friend’ is the director and co-writer.
“Mumblecore seems to be another wording for plotless, poorly made bad indie films with unlikable and poorly groomed twenty-something characters that wander around and waste your time…I recommend you all see smaller gems like THE NEW YEAR PARADE which is worth much more of your time.
“My partner was amazed that I made it through the end which included a bad and fake polar bear sequence and a random final CD shoplifting scene at a mall.
“Not even 1 cat…worst film I have seen this year…laughably bad.”
Chris says: “Well, I liked this film enough to nominate it for Buried Treasure! Granted, it won’t appeal to everyone as it’s steeped in whimsy and features a kleptomaniac protagonist whom you’ll either love or hate. I loved the actress who plays her, Eleonore Hendrick and found her very winning even as her character could be quite annoying.
“Also, I would not necessarily call it a ‘mumblecore’ (man, do I hate that term) film even though visually it resembles one and is made by roughly the same demographic. It’s closer to something like QUIET CITY, only more playful and irreverent without being glib or show-offy… the filmmakers clearly love their lead and present her as a fleshed-out character, not trying to mask her more irascible qualities. And the polar bear scene is pretty cool if you think of it as pure fantasy (and like polar bears that come from out of nowhere). Recommended if you’re drawn to quirky stuff like ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW.”
Toni responds: “Hmm…interesting… I loved ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW and like quirky stuff like that film, PUMPKIN and more obscure films… it had dialogue and interesting characters – macaroni! Miranda July is a treat as always. I don’t think it is anything like ROBBED…
“Sorry we disagree here. I know I felt much pain and other folks who saw this felt the same way. It received a 25% rotten rating so I cannot be so wrong in liking quirky films and not liking this one. I do see that every film that gets ‘mumblecore’ label I like this or FROWNLAND or HUMPDAY are not very engaging films (at least to me)…
“It would be nice if the polar bear looked like a real bear and wasn’t just thrown in there…
“I don’t think we needed 70 minutes of this annoying girl and her random stealing and absurd activities. I know another critic said that it had about 15 minutes of a film in there in the beginning and went nowhere.
“I think I should only review films I like cause I don’t like clashing with tastes – there seems to be a film for everyone and film out there that everyone hates….”