Haltlos

James LeGros stars as John Boyz in this interesting little indie-flick with some interesting themes, perhaps a little more than it can tackle, but with a great cast of (future) stars. No matter how casual LeGros moves about in his slacker L.A. dreamworld, the film is fast-paced and moves quickly from one scene to another, with hardly any scene lasting more than a couple of minutes. The limited number of votes on the IMDb is surprising, considering the number of stars in this film, including John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Ethan Hawke.

Truly one of the highlights is when Billy Bob Thornton sells James LeGros a gun, son of a gun Thornton! He steals it, definitely.

The philosophy is not very lasting. The conservation with his father talking about sending the army into America's inner cities after the L.A. riots, since they control the country already. 'I think that's called fascism, dad.' And then the topic it's dropped and the film contains some more of these quasi-philosophical intakes, not very strong. And you don't wanna see James Le Gros dancing when he's drunk.

The whole thing is primitively filmed, it almost feels like a home movie, with the low key and somewhat amateurish score, but as a whole a slight but still quite an engrossing film.

Camera Obscura --- 7/10

Peter McCarthy writer/director of 'Floundering' had a hand in both 'Repo Man' and 'Tapeheads' and that may give you a little bit of an idea where this odd little movie is coming from, but not much. It really is very difficult to categorize. It's an almost stream of consciousness Gen X black comedy that often feels and looks like it's semi improvised. Several sequences completely fall flat, but then it'll bounce back with something genuinely original or inspired. James LeGros ('Drugstore Cowboy', 'Living In Oblivion') stars as a sensitive but confused slacker type who wrestles with his social conscience. The movie shows him going through a crisis period where his whole life falls apart. The movie features an impressive supporting cast of name actors (Buscemi, Cusack, Hawke, Billy Bob Thornton), musicians, weirdos and Alex Cox regulars Sy Richardson and Biff Yeager, even Cox himself appears in a brief cameo. The movies jumps between social realism and surrealism, quirky comedy and darker, more depressing material. It can often be quite frustrating to watch but it's still one of the most interesting and unusual indie movies to come out of the 1990s. Recommended for Alex Cox fans in particular, and fans of the offbeat in general.

This is a little movie with big things to say. There are some genuinely funny, thought provoking, and disturbing moments in this film. I was surprised to see it rated so low. Certainly not intended to be an academy award candidate nonetheless this film shines in its own way. Floundering takes you on a strange and comical trip that at times poignantly illuminates the absurd realities of modern life. This film takes on many issues through the "floundering" character of Le Gros; recycling, violence,sexuality, drug abuse, wealth disparity, family loss,mental health, and human fraternity to name a few. Look for some great cameos from the likes of Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, and Kim Wayans.

Floundering offers a fresh insight into the problems plagueing youth in the 90's. It revolves around a youth named John who is having extreme difficulty in finding his center. His situation is not improved by his philosophic friends who tell him it will take time, or by his drug-addicted paranoid (he calls John the devil) brother. The cast is sterling and the script is stong. This movie is one to see if things haven't been going your way.

floundering is a good movie i don't care if it is "indie" or isn't cool enough to be indie. steve buscemi, john cusack or ethan hawke are fine in the movie and serve their purpose well.

~The movie suffers from many of the usual independant film problems: unconvincing sets, bad acting...~ HA do you know why independant movies are like that because they have no big budgets to work with. If you want those problems fixed go rent a james cameron movie and dont waste your time, so people like me who appreciate movies like this can rent it.

As for the character being in every scene, last time i checked the main character is usually in the movie or story quite a bit. how would a main character being in every scene mean death for a movie.

the movie is a few days in the life of a highly stressed neurotic guy who is fed up with the way things are going not a shallow guy. the back of the box usually sums up the movie for you, i suggest you start reading the back of the boxes before you rent anymore.