Hello!
Have been very busy and trying to read as many reviews as I can. Thanks so much if you hav...
Hello!
Have been very busy and trying to read as many reviews as I can. Thanks so much if you have left comments for me or read my reviews.
Corinne :-)
Member since:20.11.2005
Reviews:6
Members who trust:2
I've reviewed this film on some other sites as well, but it's only because I count this as my favourite film this year - so if I have a tendency to repeat myself in cyberspace, it's only because I love this film to bits.
I'm not the sort of reviewer who gives away all the punch lines and endings to films, so bear with me if I'm deliberately vague.
It's not just the laughs that will make this film stay in my memory for years to come. (Although it has wonderful comedic moments and was genuinely funny) What made it really stand out from the usual run-of-the mill comedies, were the characters who were warm, human and funny. I'm a married woman, I hasten to add, but I could empathise with Andy (played by Steve Carrell) and there was something in him that most of us could feel for - a charming blend of dorkiness, dignity and vulnerability.
Having won the Golden Globe for The Office recently, Carrell's star is on the rise; but mark my words, that star is going to get even brighter and bigger as time goes on. It's been ages since I've seen such refreshing talent and he stole the show and stole our hearts in this film.
It's an unusual blend of crude and extremely bawdy, but also gentle and sweet humour, and much of the comedy came from witty dialogue. A few of the best lines were given away in the trailer (Damn, I hate trailers which give away everything!!) but there was still plenty of great comedy left to go around to make me chuckle.
Structurally, it is by no means perfect and I thought an intimate "fumbly" bedroom scene in the dark was missing. That pivotal scene is somewhat cut short in the film by Trish's children and I felt that it could've been allowed to develop further. But ultimately what makes the film special is the delightful tone of the film as a whole and characters we like and can feel for.
In my opinion, there were no "supporting" characters. Even the minor characters had memorable scenes and contributed to the film as a whole. There was definite chemistry between the two middle-aged leads - the love interest Trish, played brilliantly by Catherine Keener, and Andy. You find yourself rooting for Andy and Trish to consummate the relationship not merely in a physical way, but more importantly, in an emotional way.
Trish sells other people's stuff on E-bay and as their relationship deepens, she encourages Andy to sell his prized collectibles on E-bay. If you're an E-bayer, there are a few in-jokes that will have obsessive E-bay sellers cracking up.
While this might not be the funniest film around, in terms of characterisation, it definitely stands out. It just had that extra little bit of stardust that similar and possibly funnier films lacked. That's why it has my vote as one of the best comedies in recent years.
While it's old-fashioned at the core, this is still a blatantly raunchy film. So please don't go and watch this DVD and then complain that it was too rude and had foul language- it's obviously not meant to be family kind of fare - you can tell that just from the rating and from the title of the film!
<Other information:>
An unrated version of the DVD is now available and it lasts 17 minutes longer.
Rating: R16.
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring Steve Carrell, Catherine Keener and Paul Rudd.
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