Claire: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 3.4/5 stars, 7.2/10.
Native ratings: 5.0/10 IMDB. NOT available on Netflix. Do not be fooled. They have a movie called Slipstream, but it is not this movie. It is a 1989 movie. This is a 2007 movie. I know nothing about the 1989 one.
Claire: Seriously though… What the fuck just happened?
This only made it to a 3/7 from me because of how psychdelic and trippy it was. The cerebreal movie-within-a-movie thing helped make things very interesting, but it also helped make things very confusing, very lacking of real resolution, and very inconsistent in tone. The tone goes from arthouse to thriller to comedy to confusion… All in all, I don’t think the rewards of the various interesting gimmicks used was equal to the cost and damage done by using those very same gimmicks.
The main reason to see this is to see the only movie ever written or directed by Anthony Hopkins. Ththththththththt. I have a personal connection to the man, because my next-door neighbor was an extra in Silence Of The Lambs.
I like it less and less as my memory of it fades. And it also seems to be a forgettable movie, not because it wasn’t novel, but because there was so much to it. So now my own rating seems high to me.
Carolyn: Not a comedy. Very psychedelic, and barely making any sense. It was very confusing, and the beginning had a lot of quick frame flashes that were distracting, but also intriguing. Unfortunately, it just kind of limped through and barely made any sense. I thought it was intriguing, but I feel like it didn’t quite live up to its potential.
Also starring Stella Arroyave (Anthony Hopkins‘ wife) as Gina.
Christian Slater (Heathers, Zoolander, Young Guns 2, 6 eps of Robot Chicken) as Ray / Matt Dobbs / Patrolman #2. John Turturro (Barton Fink in Barton Fink, Transformers movies, The Big Lebowski, Monkeybone, Mr. Deeds, Anger Management, O Brother Where Art Thou?) as Harvey Brickman. Michael Clarke Duncan (Kilowog in The Green Lantern-TAS, Kung Fu Panda, Kingpin in Dare Devil, Kingpin in 2 eps of Spider-Man-TAS (2000s), The Scorpion King, 1 ep of Ultimate Spider-Man) as Mort / Phil Henderson / Patrolman.
Camryn Manheim (Scary Movie 3, 4 eps of The L Word, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Dilbert) as Barbara, the script director.
Jeffrey Tambor (George Bluth Sr. in Arrested Development, Hank Kingsley in The Larry Sanders Show, Hangover movies, Hellboy, Superhero Movie, EuroTrip, Professor Cakes in China IL, 4 eps of Archer, 2 eps of 3-South) as Geek / Jeffrey / Dr. Geekman.
S. Epatha Merkerson (Black Snake Moan, Terminator 2) as Bonnie.
Fionnula Flanagan (7 eps of Lost, 1 ep of Nip/Tuck, 12 eps of How The West Was Won, 1 ep of Bonanza) as Bette Lustig.
Michael Lerner (Mirror Mirror, When Do We Eat??, Barton Fink) as Big Mikey.
This seemed like it could have had potential, and it started out interesting enough being a mockumentary about old people….Old people are very overlooked in comedy, and show business in general, so it offered some less-common situations to form the foundation of various jokes. But, like most mockumentaries that seem to be improvised a lot, it seemed to lose its focus and got a bit scattered and all over the place… and a lot of the jokes fell flat on their face… which maybe could have been like, “Yeah, they’re old people and their jokes sometimes aren’t funny.”, but that’s a lame excuse. It just seemed to be missing something…
Still a decent amount of laughs, though. The homage to the masturbation scene in Fast Times At Ridgmont High was pretty funny with a 70-year-old sex addict.
Directed by Michelle Schumacher (9 eps of Oz is pretty much the only thing she’s done, this is the only movie she’s directed). Written by Randle Schumacher and Eric Radzan.
J.K. Simmons (Oz, Tenzin in Legend Of Korra; J. Jonah Jameson in the Spiderman movies, Hulk And The Agents Of S.M.A.S.H., Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Ultimate Spider-Man, and 2 eps of The Simpsons; Juno; I Love You, Man; Jennifer’s Body; 4 eps of The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack) as J Kimball.
Basil Hoffman (he’s been in 1 or 2 eps of a bunch of things including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Too Close For Comfort, Night Court, CHiPs, Dynasty, Gimme A Break) as Victor, the main old man.
Breckin Meyer (Robot Chicken, Joseph Gribble in King Of The Hill, Titan Maximum, Road Trip, 54, uncredited in Can’t Hardly Wait) as Breckin.
Tim Allen as Tim.
Scott Caan (Ocean’s Eleven movies, Nowhere, Bongwater) as Scott.
Kevin Pollak (1 ep of Childrens Hospital, Wayne’s World 2, A Few Good Men, Willow) as Kevin (Christopher Walken impersonation).
Randy Couture (did stunts in 2 eps of Oz) as Randy.
Sam Raimi as Director.
Lou Beatty Jr. (Van Wilder, Fight Club, Fast & Furious) as Bernard.
Mike O’Malley (28 Days, Deep Impact, 3 eps of Baby Blues) as Mike.
Beverly Polcyn (Not Another Teen Movie, uncredited in Legally Blonde, 1 ep of Malcolm In The Middle) as Ruth, the slutty old lady.
Tony Cummings (8 eps of Another World, 8 eps of Santa Barbara) as Greg.
Pamela Dunlap (1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of Mad About You) as Mary, the heavier old lady.
Ruth Williamson (6 eps of Nip/Tuck, Psycho Beach Party, the Scotsman’s wife in Samurai Jack, Legally Blonde 2) as Art Instructor.
Courtenay Taylor (Rubber, 14 eps of Regular Show, a bunch of video games) as Lisa, J.’s wife.
I found this movie to be very original. It had dark, dark, messed up black humor, but also had a lot of standard humor as well. Events in the movie were disturbing and funny at the same time. Things got cartoonishly ridiculous, which is always points-positive for a movie.
Anna Kendrick came off as being much younger here than in the Twilight movies. Her acting was interesting, as her character often had to say things her character didn’t believe, so there was a slight air of sarcasm to all of it.
The cast in general was interesting. People from many other things we’ve watched, such as The Office, Childrens Hospital, NTSF:SD:SUV::, Twilight.
Daryl from The Office as the Anti-Christ? That’s one of the more brilliant casting choices here, and the source of a lot of the movie’s humor.
This garnered a very low rating from the public — probably due to all the Christians who automatically downvote anything that makes humor out of religion, plus the fact that comedies always seem to score lower than non-comedies of equal value. Humor never works for as many people as drama, so I’ve learned not to ignore comedies with low IMDB ratings…and was rewarded by not veto’ing this as a movie to watch. Very glad I did watch it afterall…
Directed by Paul Middleditch. Written by Chris Matheson (Bill & Ted‘s Excellent Adventure, 7 eps of Bill & Ted‘s Excellent Adventure, and not much else)
Claire's blog 