Steineded
How sad is this?
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.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
NateWatchesCoolMovies
What the hell did just watch. Oh boy, what can I say about this one without tearing it a new one. Alan Rudolph's Trixie is a dud, a paperweight, a misguided, clumsy disaster of the highest order. It has the tonal equilibrium of heart attack on a flow chart, and a troupe of actors who mercilessly embarrass themselves into the ground with work that goes beyond tireless pantomime. It's sad, because I've seen this type of thing work nicely before, with the right amounts of quaint and quirky qualities, but here the mixture tanks in a god awfully messy cannonball of a landing. It tries to be a detective story, but fails to realize that you need some semblance of a story to care about, and I just…. didn't care. It's a slog to get through, a struggle to stay focused on, and basically a big awkward failure on every level. Also puzzling is the fact that cast, all of which are excellent actors who I love in almost everything they do, all made me want to hit them here, and when you've got a cast this good, that's no easy feat. Emily Watson will make you want to tear your hair out as titular Trixie, a casino security guard with aspirations of taking on a big detective case, an irritating Chicago accent and apparently mild brain damage that causes her to mispronounce every expression, figure of speech and slang term in a fashion that is neither cute nor funny. She's wooed by Dex (Dermot Mulroney) a goon who works for sleazy land developer Red Rafferty (Will Patton). Soon, through a set of circumstances both inane and cartoonish, they find themselves deep in some sort of backhanded scheme involving murder most foul, tied to a corrupt state senator played by Nick Nolte, who is the peacock of the bunch, sucking all the energy out of the room with dialogue that is literally lifted straight from political speeches from the past. I'm not even kidding, he blusters out platitudes that vaguely have a place in whatever seen is going on, but barely. There's also a hot young waitress (a bouncy Brittany Murphy), a flamboyant lounge singer (Nathan Lane is excruciating), a washed up pop star (Lesley Ann Down) and a bizarre cameo from Stephen Lang who attempts an accent that made me supremely uncomfortable. It's weird, cumbersome and altogether pointless as everything it tries: comedy, thriller, romance, whodunit.. all fall miserably flat. Bummer. I'm gonna go make a list of all the things I could have been doing with the two hours I spent on this wreck.
JohnLeeT
In a delightful comic turn, Emily Watson demonstrates clearly that she is not simply one of the great dramatic actors in cinema history. Giving a performance that rivals some of her most delightful work on stage while in residence at RADA in the early 1990's, Watson lights up the screen in a very funny, sexy characterization that will please those who have followed her stunning career with astonishment. Few actors could work so successfully with the rather lackluster material presented by this director and triumph over it, capturing our hearts completely. Viewers' hearts will melt as Watson breathes life into Trixie like a dynamo of acting energy that is almost atomic. This is an actor of unequaled talent, who blinds audiences with her brilliance, leaving those who appreciate great acting stunned by her power. While this is not a film to be noted at the top of her resume, Watson certainly proves once again how versatile an artist she truly is and her choices continue to astound audiences without exception, leaving all of us breathless and overwhelmed. The film deserves the low rating it receives here, but for Emily Watson's magnificent performance, a 10 is hardly close to what she truly deserves for commanding the screen, lighting up our hearts, and sharing her unlimited gifts with the audience. As Trixie, Watson delights as no other actor has ever cinematically delighted.
GrammarBroad
And, no, he would NOT have liked this movie. Most people obviously didn't. My sides ached. I know most people didn't "get" it. Look at the mess of categories it is in. You cannot pigeonhole this movie. It is an original.I do understand. I have seen Altman movies that I didn't think were funny, either. But this one hit a home run right up my alley. Not funny? Well, at least it's not a tired, old cliché. I had to get the tissues out because I was laughing so hard I was crying. See? We mix metaphors all the time.But these clichés have never been mixed so well. How did Nick Nolte, Lesley Ann Warren and Brittany Murphy and the rest of the cast keep straight faces? A whole movie FULL of straight men. The only one who knew he was funny was Nathan Lane ... and he was playing a comedian ... that most people didn't think was funny! How ironic is that?I just want to say to everyone involved in making this movie: Thank you! I laughed so hard I ruptured my catachresis.
billchiu
Good movie. Odd, off balance, imaginative, agitating - everything that an ultra-passive braincell-hybernating spoonfed-explosion stale-cool critics-approved movie pencil-envies. My opinion.
