SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

movieman_kev David Duchovny stars as Mike Klein, a television show writer who hopes that his heartfelt new pilot that he wrote after his brother's suicide gets picked up for the fall season. But he has to deal with compromising his vision to the network executives' bottom line (ratings) if he wants to see it on the schedule.Well acted, especially by Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver, if a bit black and white satire. Not as biting or pointed as I sensed that writer/director Jake Kasdan wanted it to or could've been, but entertaining and poignant enough to make it a good watch regardless. And is miles above his much better known, "Walk Hard" My Grade: B-

JoeB131 I thought this film was okay, but not great.Certainly, it is a topic that can be mined for great comedy and social commentary. How does Hollywood, which has so many talented people in it, churn out such crap to put into our living rooms every night? I think the producers here try to give us a behind the curtain look at that, but they don't really hit it with the edge that they could hit it with.The plot is that Duchovny's character is a writer who creates a show about a lawyer who is touched by the death of his brother by suicide, and slowly watches as his original concept is bastardized by network executives. Network meddling turns a neat idea into a farce. First, they put in an actor the creator doesn't want, and his inadequacy ruins much of the chemistry. Then they change the premise, and finally the title.The movie ends abruptly as the main character watches a clip for a show that looks nothing like his original idea.It works on some levels, but on others, it kind of falls flat.Sigourny Weaver is brilliant. Duchovny just doesn't work well in this role. You are supposed to get the idea of a man who makes Faustian bargains to get his vision on the air, and then has his vision destroyed. Duchovny's character never really expresses his passion for his original concept, so you don't care all that much when Weaver's character steamrollers him.I find this interesting, because no doubt they cast Duchovny because of his name recognition. The premise is how a TV show can be ruined by bad casting when this movie was ruined by bad casting.

Ronni Brant I readily related to the central plight of David Duchovny's character - writing and submitting what we're to assume is a perfectly good, heartfelt and sincere script only to be asked to compromise it's most significant and defining characteristics in ways that change the entire premise of the story. With real world responsibilities, he's forced to choose between his ability to provide for his family and his artistic integrity. I think we've all been there in one way or another - those REAL compromises in life where either option requires us to face a devastating loss.This movie was emotionally stirring as well as funny - a troubling funny, a dark funny, where the real laughs are in the subtext - the absurdity of the whole ordeal.David Duchovny's performance was, imo, perfect. I actually prefer him in more overt comedic roles but he owned this character in all it's deadpan glory.I think the most surprising performances were from Judy Greer and Sigourney Weaver. I knew Judy did good comedy, but the subtle approach she applied to this character was flawless. Like Duchovny, she was funny without ever seeming like she was actually trying to be. She didn't play the character funny, she played a funny character - if that makes sense to anyone but me.Weaver, unfortunately, lands on the other end of the spectrum - as the most disappointing performance. She appeared almost desperate for a laugh in most scenes and her character never seemed to have center. Then again, people in Weaver's character's position tend to be over-animated, two-dimensional, self-ingratiating twits with no artistic vision. So, perhaps she played her character perfectly. Decide for yourself.Extra props to Fran Kranz for his brilliant portrayal of a slightly psychotic bad actor, Ioan Gruffudd for being so damned likable as opposed to the typical "stuffy brit" stereotype found in most American movies...and finally, Justine Bateman and Willie Garson for breathing real life into their relatively small roles. Well done...Bottom line: This movie touched me. I don't think we can ask for any more from our entertainment than that.

george-rolph 7 out of ten.Why? Because it works as a send up of TV and because, the ice sculpture looked like the alien Sigorny Weaver once did battle with. (I think it was supposed to be a polar bear but the shooting angle was carefully chosen to make the joke. Then the Hollywood machine -- rating us all with zero intelligence as they like to do sooo often -- got Sigorney to virtually tell us the joke in the dialogue. Ho Hum). Now, I am a fierce critic of movies, as anyone who had read most of my "reviews" on here will know. (If I hate it I don't review it I just stone it to death). This however, was a delightful change and a pleasantly funny movie.Apart from some of the background characters going over the top, everyone played a great part. David Duchovny as Mike, was superb as the suffering writer having his entire script stolen from him and re- written in dumb down mode (Something Hollywood would never do, of course!) played his role to perfection. No, that it is not a spoiler! Sigourney Weave as Lenny, a sort of, emotionally dead, pseudo-logical, ratings obsessed monster, played the role of her human version of the Alien perfectly. If she had dribbled some slime she could have been that very monster.Everyone did their part and everyone did it well (Except for the O.T.T. background characters on the TV sitcom set).This is not a movie to tax your brain and not one to kill it off like many Amercian "comidies" (sic)are today. It is exactly the kind of thing to watch when you are too exhausted to think too much and way too bored to want to. It will deliver just the right amount of pick me up.Watch it! It is worth the money and the time.