California Dream

On this lazy Sunday afternoon when I should be cleaning my house, I ended up turning on FOX t.v. and this movie was already in progress. Since that's one of the few channels that comes in on my antenna, I just left the t.v. on for company as I made something to eat.

Of course, I recognize the fact that I was missing something by turning on in the middle, and I didn't know what was really going on in the movie for a while. I remember standing in the kitchen hearing the '90s soundtrack running and thinking of how awful '90s movies were in many cases because of that. I returned to the living room to eat and casually watch the movie and thought to myself, "Why on earth did some idiot programming director decide that THIS would be the movie they'd show this afternoon?!" Oh, then I watched further and found out that Phil was dying. And I'm a sucker for the make-you-wanna-cry movies. I'm no sissy; and I've put it together, and realized that movies like this that make you confront someone's impending death help me little by little to find peace about my own mother's death in 2001.

I was so touched by the way this movie dealt with death and friendship, that I went from thinking it was horrible and dumb to thinking it was thoughtful, evocative, sentimental, heartfelt and touching (if not totally realistic). And another thing, I went from finding the dialog utterly '90s-moronic and goofy, to finding it appropriate and well-done. (This was after the middle part of the movie in which it is treated as just another buddies-on-a-trip goofoff.) Other movies may deal with death, and may do it better on occasion, but none of them have the incredibly sympathetic Jason Bateman as the dying person. His character and his portrayal are 90% of what I ended up enjoying about Breaking the Rules.

"BREAKING THE RULES" has a good cast and a competent storyline that provides an "anything can happen" atmosphere, yet the end result is far from satisfying.

With Neal Israel at the helm, and the talents of Jonathan Silverman, Jason Bateman, C. Thomas Howell and Annie Potts, I expected much more, but the overall feel of the film is that of "un-feeling". Most of the situations are just not funny, and I wish I could care for the plight of these characters, but I didn't.

There are all too many implausibilities that plague the film and take away from it's potential. For example, Howell, Bateman and Silverman have several moments in the film where they "croon" out a few tunes, and their stand-in singing voices are beyond unbelievable, which ultimately distracts the possible fun of these scenes.

This is not a bad film, but it could have been so much better.

I have to say I'm pretty shocked at the number of positive reviews of this "movie". I stumbled across it today on free TV and was stunned at how awful it was. I pity anyone who sat through this 15 times. I have a deep and embarrassing soft spot for anything mildly sappy but come on, this was atrocious. The scene where C. Thomas is insulting Annie Potts and the guys are "arguing" over her was horrendously written and acted. Nothing felt true or real or honest in this programmed maudlin mess. I wonder if this was the movie that sent C.T. to drinking.

The cast is all very capable and have been good elsewhere but god, I was just cringing for Annie Potts having to spit out tasteless dialogue while mauling Jonathan Silverman as Bateman and Howell watch from the bed. And the cancer makeup on Bateman was terribly done. Didn't buy it for a second.

Breaking the Rules was one of those films that slipped in and out of theaters before it could develop a following. If it were not for video I think very few would have seen it and that would have been a pity.

Three childhood chums have gone their separate ways. In fact two of them are downright hostile to each other. The third, Jason Bateman, succeeds in bringing the other two to some kind of a truce and all three take an automobile trip out west. Bateman feels compelled to do it, he's under a deadline literally. He's got a rare and rapidly growing form of leukemia and has little time left.

C. Thomas Howell and Jonathan Silverman play the other two friends, but it's Jason Bateman's touching performance as their dying chum that really drives the film.

Bateman's career was in limbo at the time. He had left The Hogan Family and it would be many years before he got another break in Arrested Development. Had this film been better promoted he might have been doing better a whole lot sooner.

Annie Potts plays the waitress all three pick up on their way to California and she scores well in her role. But it's really a triple buddy picture with a tragic twist.

Catch it if you can when it's broadcast.

For such a high scoring film, I can't believe comments haven't been made about such a powerfully moving film such as Sketches. The first time I saw this film, I was unaware of the main storyline. I laughed, I cried, I was moved. I have recommended this film to a number of people and so far no-one has been disappointed. I would definitely recommend this to anybody with feeling. If you have a beating heart - you too will be moved. The way Phil (Bateman) deals with his disease, makes you proud to be his friend. Shows a number of mixed reactions from his friends, and you can relate to every one of them. I have now seen this movie more than 15 times, and each time I came away with something new.