NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Console best movie i've ever seen.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

evileve2012 This is a tedious movie filled with actors that have all done better work. My whole thought during the movie was........OK now what. They kind of tried to make it about a fat guy but it could have been ANY guy who can't make a decision. The story didn't have a point other than this guy cant push forward in his life. I mean if you just want to watch a movie with a lot of recognizable actors just for that purpose watch one of those multi plot deals. They are in general just as boring but they have more "stars". I was reading this movie cost 1.5 million dollars. HOW the hell did it cost that much?!!? I am pretty sure he knew everyone in the film and every venue. His friends hate him to make him pay that much for this movie. I made the choice to watch this flick and now I am making the choice to never talk about it again.. I want that time back but I am pretty sure I could use it to just sit and look at the wall and think of fluffy bunnies and still been more interested.

charliesedaka If you like "Curb..." you will like the main character, as they are so similar to the "Curb.." formula. I should watch the entire thing, I guess, before making comment. To me it's a one-trick pony film, and the trick is insignificant, if I see it at all. "Chubby-chaser" jokes are typical of this low-rent, low-interest genre. Perhaps this is meant to have all sorts of important underlying comments about weight, rejection etc, but there is nothing subtle or watchable about it to my eyes. Sarah Silverman is OK, for the time I saw her in the movie at least, but nothing special. That rally sum up this film, for me, in that it is Nothing Special, just typical.

dbairdk Jeff Garlin's film is filled with heart and laughter. As in Curb Your Enthusiasm, his screen persona is hilarious; but in addition we get to see both warmth and a sense of emotional vulnerability that makes the story universal. While the film chronicles his character's dreams of love, performing success, and weight loss, it will appeal to anyone who dreams of a better life. The supporting cast brings the frustrations and joys of his life to the screen in funny and heartbreaking ways. The simple joys of food, friendship, and trying once again once life has disappointed us are all themes. The use of music is creative and adds to the many pleasures of this film. Any fan of Jeff Garlin's TV appearances must see it!

Ed Uyeshima Any movie that offers Bonnie Hunt, Sarah Silverman and Amy Sedaris in the supporting cast has to be well worth watching, and comic actor Jeff Garlin takes advantage of the terrific talent he recruited for his 2007 directorial debut, a sad-sack comedy about an overweight man who feels out of step with the world around him. Familiar as Larry David's manager Jeff on "Curb Your Enthusiasm", Garlin plays James, a still-struggling, 39-year old Chicago actor who still lives with his widowed mother. His self-esteem is so low that he can't meet women, but it's the comical way he views his single status that makes his dilemma involving. If the storyline sounds a bit familiar, that's because the film is partially a tribute to the 1955 Ernest Borgnine classic, "Marty", about a lonely Bronx butcher living with his meddlesome mother. In fact, Garlin uses "Marty" as the play which James is desperate to do since he is so empathetic to the character's situation.Naturally there is a love story of sorts in this new millennium version, and Silverman plays Beth, an off-kilter, sexually voracious ice cream parlor server who takes him on an underwear shopping spree. Their best scene together is in his favorite convenience store where they improvise different characters in different aisles. Hunt plays a lonely elementary school teacher who shares a passion with James for jazz musician Ben Webster. They meet accidentally in a record store and then again at a career day at her school where he hilariously exposes his sexual neuroses in front of a classroom of first-graders, including his best friend Luca's pert daughter Penelope (played by Dakota Fanning's look-alike baby sister Elle). In a wedged-in cameo and looking quite a bit like Jerri Blank, Sedaris plays the school's counselor who speaks to James after his inappropriate monologue. David Pasquesi plays Luca, a retirement home manager, and his scenes with Garlin have an easy rapport that makes their friendship easy to believe. Almost stealing the movie is character actress Mina Kolb, who plays James' pixilated mother with pluck and heart.There are also unexpected cameos from teen idol Aaron Carter and Gina Gershon (don't ask…but the set-up is funny), as well as sharply played bits by director Paul Mazursky (as the snaky director of a candid-camera-type show, "Smear Job"), Tim Kazurinsky (as the unsuspecting victim of that show) and Dan Castellaneta (as the tough-love convenience store owner). With his rueful bouts of insecurity and self-loathing, Garlin's comic sensibilities resemble those of Albert Brooks, and the casual dialogue at its best reminds me of "Modern Romance" and "Defending Your Life". The one persistent problem I had with the film is pacing as some scenes dragged out longer than necessary. The problem is more evident in the first half when Garlin is trying to establish the right tempo, and the lack of real conflict adds to the sluggishness. Regardless, what he does well is capture that gnawing sense of desperation one feels upon the revelation that life is not what it is supposed to be, that a significant other may be out of reach, and that a steady diet of junk food eaten on a car hood is the only sure thing when it comes to gratification.