11
out of
12
people found the following review helpful:
Excellent premise, masterful first 2.5 minutes, and plenty of laughs...a promising effort
Overall Recommendation:
3 stars
Premise:
4 stars
Story structure:
3 stars
Character:
3 stars
Dialogue:
3 stars
Emotion:
3 stars
February 16, 2012
Two minutes and thirty seconds into the film the plot was already neatly laid out. D'Mario's involvement in Jessica's disappearance was already hinted at, and Owen's reaction to the unfolding online romance is believable. That intro was beautifully done. Really, the film was overall a success in my mind. I laughed a good deal, and I even showed a few scenes to a friend who wasn't watching.
The characters are somewhat stock for films centered around a roadtrip, but none of them are bothersome. The most intriguing (visually and in terms of motivation) was clearly MoBu, but the competition between the male characters to demonstrate which is the best friend was a nice background touch (and could probably be played up throughout the story with more success).
Some genuinely memorable dialogue, notably the interaction among Jeff, Rishi, and the gas station attendant and also Rishi's "Motha Fu----" line. Conveying the legitimacy of an online romance is difficult, but two scenes that stood out as effective were the Farmville photo at Jessica's (or D'Mario's?) apartment and the "big red barn" line. Only one line stood out as being really ill-fit; it was was early on, when Rishi told Owen that Owen was glowing. Owen said something like, "I'm not pregnant." It's not funny; it's not clever; and as far as I can tell, it's not a common saying. It really felt like an opportunity for something funny and clever, but it didn't deliver.
Some constructive criticism: The acting isn't top notch. It's not necessary that it be top notch, but the actors playing D'Mario and Owen (in that order) could simply be better. D'Mario's actor seems a bit uncomfortable playing a thug and saying thuggish things. That's a problem: because that's what he is. Owen's actor seems to be going for the Jesse Eisenberg/Michael Cera feel, but he's not as charismatic as either, and his character is less witty as well than those they play. As a result the character is flat and underwhelming at times. I get that he's a normal guy, but think of what someone like John Cusack did with very normal, everyday characters in (romantic) comedies.
I thought the car scene dragged on a bit long. It was only a six hour drive. I don't know offhand how much screen time it consumed, but it felt long and slow. I get that there would be a good deal of awkwardness with four relative strangers sitting in a car for six hours. I think that that sense could be conveyed in a shorter period of time. That would speed up the film and get it to LA sooner.
Even once the action arrives in LA, the film pacing seems a bit off. There are a good number of stops in a short time (at least the cafe, rap studio waiting room/sex room, gay club, two levels of the final apartment) that it felt like a side-scrolling video game, where you just keep walking and walking toward the end. The final scene was pretty anti-climactic after all that buildup.
I was actually imagining a somewhat darker or more sinister conclusion. D'Mario isn't portrayed as sufficiently pimpish to beat Jessica or really hold her against her will. He comes off as a laughable petty crook. But the sort of character that would be successful at believably keeping Jessica away from her phone and status updates would be much more like the Gary Oldman character in True Romance (and in fact the scene where Slater goes to rescue his would-be-prostitute girlfriend is much more what I had imagined playing out). The action doesn't have to take that turn, however, to be effective. Jessica doesn't have to be an almost-prostitute or even an actual prostitute. There just needs to be a more believable reason why she deviates so extremely from checking in online. And D'Mario needs to go to greater lengths to hold onto her at the end (think of all he went through leading up to that point). The Pants blog move isn't a bad idea to extricate the group from the situation, but it was a bit forced. If you go for a more comedic conclusion, D'Mario could land an acting gig as a result of his "audition" tape on Pants's blog (and they all live happily ever after). If you want a more serious ending, as the film seemed to go for, something else has to be done, I think. It was really the most unsatisfying scene in the film, and the whole problem was D'Mario.
All that said, the film is already better than many films I've paid to see. I wouldn't have been disappointed if I'd spent money watching this film (I saw it "for free" through Amazon Prime). The strongest points are that intro, Mo Bu (the actress and the character), and (in spurts) both the dialogue and (to a lesser degree) the romance. Find a way to build up the romantic aspect without overly contrived revelation scenes; I think that would be a huge boost. Good luck.
The characters are somewhat stock for films centered around a roadtrip, but none of them are bothersome. The most intriguing (visually and in terms of motivation) was clearly MoBu, but the competition between the male characters to demonstrate which is the best friend was a nice background touch (and could probably be played up throughout the story with more success).
Some genuinely memorable dialogue, notably the interaction among Jeff, Rishi, and the gas station attendant and also Rishi's "Motha Fu----" line. Conveying the legitimacy of an online romance is difficult, but two scenes that stood out as effective were the Farmville photo at Jessica's (or D'Mario's?) apartment and the "big red barn" line. Only one line stood out as being really ill-fit; it was was early on, when Rishi told Owen that Owen was glowing. Owen said something like, "I'm not pregnant." It's not funny; it's not clever; and as far as I can tell, it's not a common saying. It really felt like an opportunity for something funny and clever, but it didn't deliver.
Some constructive criticism:
The acting isn't top notch. It's not necessary that it be top notch, but the actors playing D'Mario and Owen (in that order) could simply be better. D'Mario's actor seems a bit uncomfortable playing a thug and saying thuggish things. That's a problem: because that's what he is. Owen's actor seems to be going for the Jesse Eisenberg/Michael Cera feel, but he's not as charismatic as either, and his character is less witty as well than those they play. As a result the character is flat and underwhelming at times. I get that he's a normal guy, but think of what someone like John Cusack did with very normal, everyday characters in (romantic) comedies.
I thought the car scene dragged on a bit long. It was only a six hour drive. I don't know offhand how much screen time it consumed, but it felt long and slow. I get that there would be a good deal of awkwardness with four relative strangers sitting in a car for six hours. I think that that sense could be conveyed in a shorter period of time. That would speed up the film and get it to LA sooner.
Even once the action arrives in LA, the film pacing seems a bit off. There are a good number of stops in a short time (at least the cafe, rap studio waiting room/sex room, gay club, two levels of the final apartment) that it felt like a side-scrolling video game, where you just keep walking and walking toward the end. The final scene was pretty anti-climactic after all that buildup.
I was actually imagining a somewhat darker or more sinister conclusion. D'Mario isn't portrayed as sufficiently pimpish to beat Jessica or really hold her against her will. He comes off as a laughable petty crook. But the sort of character that would be successful at believably keeping Jessica away from her phone and status updates would be much more like the Gary Oldman character in True Romance (and in fact the scene where Slater goes to rescue his would-be-prostitute girlfriend is much more what I had imagined playing out). The action doesn't have to take that turn, however, to be effective. Jessica doesn't have to be an almost-prostitute or even an actual prostitute. There just needs to be a more believable reason why she deviates so extremely from checking in online. And D'Mario needs to go to greater lengths to hold onto her at the end (think of all he went through leading up to that point). The Pants blog move isn't a bad idea to extricate the group from the situation, but it was a bit forced. If you go for a more comedic conclusion, D'Mario could land an acting gig as a result of his "audition" tape on Pants's blog (and they all live happily ever after). If you want a more serious ending, as the film seemed to go for, something else has to be done, I think. It was really the most unsatisfying scene in the film, and the whole problem was D'Mario.
All that said, the film is already better than many films I've paid to see. I wouldn't have been disappointed if I'd spent money watching this film (I saw it "for free" through Amazon Prime). The strongest points are that intro, Mo Bu (the actress and the character), and (in spurts) both the dialogue and (to a lesser degree) the romance. Find a way to build up the romantic aspect without overly contrived revelation scenes; I think that would be a huge boost. Good luck.