You're Fired!

Beyond that point, it's Wild Things.

This is a fantastic flick with incredible acting on all fronts. . .for the first hour and 28 minutes. Beyond that, it's an all-out race to the bottom. From a tale of a man breaking down in the style of Falling Down - with an acting prowess nearly equal to that of Michael Douglas - it becomes a tale of who can screw who the most. Within the span of three minutes, these characters change themselves from tortured souls dealing with life's unfairness into caricatures of every gang-crime movie that had the bad sense to be put on film. Either the writer for the first ninety five percent of the film was fired, or suffered a psychotic breakdown. We placed this movie on our Netflix queue by mistake (meant to request the more recent Dane Cook flick - never you mind what that says about our cinematic tastes) and were pleasantly surprised. . .right up until the end.

I borrowed the movie from a buddy at work. He kept telling me the movie was "alright"

So i figured, what the hell.

Wow, what i great movie. It's got kind of a satisfying feeling about it when the ending gets close. But it's basically about how someone who has been working hard at their job for years, suddenly gets fired, and now he's sort of out for revenge. But has a twist of Karma thrown in the mix too....and has a lesson to be learned. (obviously as the movie description states)

But it's got that revenge kind of "feel" to it, just like "Office Space". But this movie isn't as soft and funny. It's a little cruel but STILL VERY FUNNY at the same time. Kind of a weird mixture of the two.

And it does have a few sex scenes or sexually explicit stuff.

It seems like these kinds of movies are always swept under the rug when they first come out....just because they involve "sensitive issues", like Workplace Violence and things like that.....

But it IS a good movie, regardless.

The film has its moments. It's got a rather nice plot. It's first-person commentary is interesting. Matt Dillon and Christina Applegate have both done quite well. The sequence before the bank robbery was very stylish and funny. It's sound editing is perhaps below average but the music is okay.

It's got endless plot twists in the end. After the first major twist I said to myself "Well, that's clever..." and after the second I was like "Wow! never saw this coming" and the twists continued on to a point where I got rather irritated. Plot twists are supposed to offer surprise elements in a story to see it from an entirely different point of view. But in this film, surprise is stripped off.

Mitch Rouse's "Employee of the Month" was a good discovery. Not having seen it when it was released, we took a chance at it the other night, and it paid off. Mr. Rouse is a man that has worked extensively on television, as well as his co-screen writer, Jay Leggett, who also has a minor role in the film. These men prove they can write and keep their public involved.

The start of the film shows David and Sara toasting to their happiness, something that will be broken in the course of the movie. On the surface, we are watching David at his bank job. He seems to be successful and going places, until he receives the bad news from the bank's director that he is being fired because of his poor performance, when all indicates he is a good employee. On top of that, Sara, who is seen with her parents at a dinner in a restaurant, proceeds to tell him she is walking out on him because she has found out he is having an affair with Wendy, another bank employee, and a friend. How much can a guy take?

The film then changes as David decides to take things into his own hands seeking justice. What we are not prepared for is for the deception on most of the people around, and even David seems to be guided by greed. The surprise ending, in retrospect, seems to make a lot of sense because David is outsmarted by the same ones we didn't have a clue were involved, at all.

Matt Dillon is a good actor to watch. He carries the film because he is the most interesting character of all the ones we meet in the film. Steve Zahn, as the crazy Jack, does amazing things. Christina Applegate and Andrea Bendewald are also good as the duplicitous women who seem to have figured out their men and what make them tick.

The film is great fun. Forget the expectations and just have a good time.

This movie is really pretty damn good right up until the last 10 minutes where we really spin out into ridiculous attempts to tie up every single plot string in under 10 minutes. The pace at which all the story lines come to an end is jarring to say the least and very unrealistic, improbable and - a gyp.

But I would recommend this movie because right up until that point it's a fun ride with great chemistry and casting of all the players. Dillon is a bank employee hoping for a raise on his upcoming review and looking forward to marrying his live-in girlfriend. This feels like an indie film but it's a bit too clever clever for it's own good.

Steve Zahn has some really awesome moments in this movie when he is ripping on everyone within talking distance of his character. His delivery was perfect. You will notice one of the actors from Kids in The Hall fame- his part matches what he is good at, that was an excellent casting choice as well.

So even though the script fumbles at the end, all the other parts of the movie work well.