I saw a trailer for the film and I thought the poster was very original, so I thought I would go see it. It was only at the theater for a week and I missed it. I'm just now catching it on DVD(January 2002). From the very first frame to the last, I couldn't get over the excellent look of the film considering it was so low budget. The whole movie could be his reel of work. Once I got past the incredible compositions and lighting, I watched the film.
Jon Gries is one of those underrated actors you see pop up in a film every once in awhile and say, hey, it's that dude from Running Scared or the Wolfman in The Monster Squad, or better yet, Lazlo Hollyfield in Real Genius. That's all I could think of when I was bowling next to him at the Hollywood Star Lanes. That, and how stunning his bowling partner was, Audie England(Free Enterprise). Gries performance should get him better work in films but that's just not how it goes in big bad Hollywood. It was also refreshing to see Garrett Morris in something other than SNL. Both worked well off of each other and the script led itself to great performances.
The movie has some great laughs and was an enjoyable viewing. The use of the tape player in the car to go forward and backward in time was ingenius. One of those ploys to visually show where you're going in the story without having to show those cheesy wavy lines or have the camera go out of focus. A solid sophomore effort by the Polish brothers. I can't comment on their first movie, Twin Falls Idaho, due to lack of seeing it, but I can say there is a nice plug for the movie, when Jon and Garrett mention they are going to Jackpot, just south of Twin Falls, and the interviewer relays with "Twin Falls, Idaho?" Nice.
Jon Gries is one of those underrated actors you see pop up in a film every once in awhile and say, hey, it's that dude from Running Scared or the Wolfman in The Monster Squad, or better yet, Lazlo Hollyfield in Real Genius. That's all I could think of when I was bowling next to him at the Hollywood Star Lanes. That, and how stunning his bowling partner was, Audie England(Free Enterprise). Gries performance should get him better work in films but that's just not how it goes in big bad Hollywood. It was also refreshing to see Garrett Morris in something other than SNL. Both worked well off of each other and the script led itself to great performances.
The movie has some great laughs and was an enjoyable viewing. The use of the tape player in the car to go forward and backward in time was ingenius. One of those ploys to visually show where you're going in the story without having to show those cheesy wavy lines or have the camera go out of focus. A solid sophomore effort by the Polish brothers. I can't comment on their first movie, Twin Falls Idaho, due to lack of seeing it, but I can say there is a nice plug for the movie, when Jon and Garrett mention they are going to Jackpot, just south of Twin Falls, and the interviewer relays with "Twin Falls, Idaho?" Nice.