VividSimon Simply Perfect

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

sol- Double-crossed and forced to flee town to evade the authorities, a small time crook joins his younger brother on a quest to track down their father, a former sporting legend turned anarchist, in this deliberately paced drama from Hal Hartley of 'Trust' fame. The film features some great dialogue as the brothers banter about whether there is any difference between being "in love" and "thinking with your penis" and as they discuss whether certain music artists let themselves be exploited or take control of whether how they are being exploited. Quirky supporting characters include a sarcastic local policeman and a store clerk set on learning French to help make his upcoming date with an Italian woman run smoother (!). The most intriguing character though is the brothers' father, and it never quite makes sense how few scenes he has, all cobbled at the end. Getting his disciples to recite politically charged verses, their father has become a bit of a cult figure, professing answers for all of his followers and yet disconnected from his own flesh and blood. Spending more time on the crook being double-crossed may have also helped since his heartbreak over that is a chief motivation (then again, Mary McKenzie is so amateurish as the woman who crossed him that it is a welcome relief when she disappears from screen). Whatever the case, this is certainly nowhere near as engaging a movie as 'Trust'; similarly though, 'Simple Men' is a film that works best in the scenes where the characters simply interact with one another and share their views.

lordnimbo I could have sworn that I had already written a review of this, my favorite Hal Hartley film, but apparently have not.I first watched the film when it was broadcast on the New York PBS station in the early 1990's, and had recorded it (using the high-tech method of the time, with a VCR). When I initiated my hosting of "Weird Movie Night" as a recurring event for my friends and coworkers, 'this' was the first film shown. Like myself, most of the viewers were shocked, having never seen anything like it before. A film where the dialog is as much of the effect as the visual portion. Some of the viewers writhed and yelled out in pain, others laughed at specific scenes (I always laugh at the parts when "Stu the bus driver", I mean 'the sheriff' talks about his relationship issues).I feel that this is Hal's most 'intelligent' film, with the scenes, script, and background music all syncing up perfectly. It is not a film to watch just to let your mind 'blank' and be fed without question, but makes 'you' think and analyze what you're watching. If that's not the viewing experience you're looking for, one can always rent/download "Die Hard 3".For those who feel that the film is 'unreal' regarding the character portrayals, I'd counter that they are 'more real' than those shown in the standard Hollywood-released films, which either 'smooth out' their character's personalities, or push them to the extreme. This film doesn't try to make the characters or their interactions 'perfect', but shows them as they are, and what occurs when different personalities are placed together. Some reviewers state that the film had no meaning or resolution, but I find it (at least at the end) to be very obvious. So I don't spoil it for those who haven't viewed the film yet, or figured out the ending, I'll just suggest that you look at the older brother's coat and think about what 'he' is about to do, just before his final decision.If you are a fan of Hal Hartley, and want to raise your children with an appreciation of his type/genre of film, obtain the 2 DVD sets of "The Adventures of Pete and Pete" (seasons 1 and 2) which were filmed around the same time period as "Simple Men", and have at least 2 actors from the film in at least 1 episode (not difficult to pick them out).

Curtis G. "Trust" was so different from anything I'd ever seen that it just knocked me out--the dialog, the meter, the slightly-affected hyper-reality of the performances. "Simple Men" showcased a refinement of writer/director Hal Hartley's style, and I found myself watching rapt, not wanting it to end, ever. Untouched, unblemished, unstained by Hollywood, Hal Hartley makes his own movies his own way. He takes life's "little problems"--the ones that big Hollywood movies only mention in passing as a cinematic trick to achieve emotional buy-in--and examines them in exquisite detail. Now when is the DVD release!?

Brian Ellis Boy, was I looking forward to this film. Hal Hartley was returning with most of the cast of "The Unbelievable Truth" with what sounded like an even better film. A couple of criminals go searching for their father, a former pro baseball shortstop turned anarchist. Well, all I got was boring dialogue and lots of it. And to me the impression was given that Hartley was trying to outdo himself on the screenplay but all that came out was a lot of pretension. Then to jazz up the film, throw in a lot of quirkiness which really doesn't make any sense: dancing to Sonic Youth's "Kool Thing" (hey, look at how cool my taste in music is), the guitar playing and the depressed sheriff bit. This film was definitely not one of Hartley's better moments. I have since seen, "Amateur", which is much better, so hopefully, this was just an aberration.