Frankie Go Boom

This is another comedy about a dysfunctional family and their decidedly absurd relationships. That much-exploited theme, the somewhat unfortunate title "3, 2, 1... Frankie Go Boom," and the negative reviews almost put me off watching this without even realizing that the wonderful Chris O'Dowd and Charlie Hunnam were involved. That Chris could completely erase his Irish accent and modify his usual comedic pacing added to my appreciation of his talent.

Anyone complaining that the relationships between the brothers, Frankie & Bruce, and between the sons & their parents were unrealistic or that the situations that arise were absurd can't be serious. Did you really expect something titled "3, 2, 1... Frankie Go Boom" and starring Chris O'Dowd was going to be a dramatic slice of reality?

I admit that I am a fan of movies & TV that exaggerate human interactions to ridiculous & absurd levels … things like "Modern Family" or "Arrested Development" or "Episodes" … but usually expect them to produce at most a few chuckles and smiles.

Quite often movies or TV shows that attempt to elevate the mundane to the ridiculous fail, but this movie was truly laugh-out-loud hilarious. The story line, the acting, the pacing were all great. I definitely plan to watch this now for a second time and will probably revisit it again in the future.

Frankie does what great comedies do. The movie sets up a very 'unlikely' scenario through which the characters must find their way. The movie doesn't shy away from many, if any of the social issues of our day but Jordan Roberts has taken a very fresh approach and thus each scene has both real hilarity and real humanity. Not enough can be said of the cast. To a person they bring such good work. Stand outs are the lead Charlie Hunnam, and his love interest Lizze Caplan. Of course, both Chris Noth and Ron Perlman fill the screen with their scene stealing roles.

While clearly working with a small, indie budget Roberts and his team have created a quality film with tremendous production values, that can easily compete with movies that cost much more to make.

I'm not a comedy fan but I loved this film. I've been disappointed and disillusioned by so-called comedies far too many times, but this film had me laughing loudly and joyfully. Yes, the humor may be crass but it has genuine heart which can only be achieved through great writing and great acting. Frankie Go Boom is not a dumb movie, and neither is the writer/director, or anyone else involved. It is what it is, and what it is, is cute, hilarious, wicked and possibly for some (mainly the humiliated and deranged) cathartic. There is not one mis-cast actor nor one ill-written line. If you can handle transgender, painful family discussions, jokes about addiction and a near-death experience by a farm animal I highly recommend this film.

Absolutely LOVED this movie. Had no idea what it was about, I just knew it had Charlie Hunnam & Ron Perlman. When Lizzy Caplan enters in her first scene I was HOOKED. She was absolutely hysterical in that scene (I had to watch it over again because I was laughing so hard). Chris O'Dowd is always a favorite of mine, & he delivered as always. Chris Noth, Ron Perlman, Adam Pally, & Nora Dunn added incredible supporting actor roles as well. I was very pleasantly surprised by each actor. I found it to be heartwarming & hilarious & uncomfortable all at once. I highly recommend avoiding the nay sayers and checking it out. I will definitely be watching it over again!

If you watch this as an "art film" instead of a blockbuster, it isn't a bad movie. It isn't a great movie either though. However, for SOA fans, it is worth watching just for Ron Perlman's performance - which was the best part of the film IMHO - and was by far the funniest parts. Charlie is good too, and as another reviewer said, it is good to see him outside his typical bad boy Jax role. I do think he is a relatable character in this movie - probably the only one really - though his character isn't as fully developed as it could have been. It seems like this was a much longer movie and was cut down...with some of the good parts missing. In the end, the movie had much more potential, but just doesn't live up to what I think the actors involved were actually capable of...it may just be that I don't appreciate the directing/editing as it is done.