Dumbbells

Does liking this movie make me a dumb person? If it does I don't really care. I enjoyed this docu-drama-comedy-romance low budget style film and I will be watching it again at some point. The three main characters were enjoyable and interesting characters. Brian Drolet who plays Chris Long a highly touted college basketball star who gets injured before he can sign his first big professional contract ends up being relegated to work at a misfit gym which goes under new management.

The new owner of the gym is a guy named Jack Guy (Hoyt Richards) who has plenty of charisma and high expectations of his staff but unfortunately he is currently having a significant cash flow problem. Jack Guy's character is so irritating that you can't help but like him and his array of wigs and if that makes any sense at all then you, will also enjoy the film as much as I did.

The third main character is gym owner Jack Guy's attractive niece Rachel Corelli (Taylor Cole) who is hired by Jack as an instructor at his dumpy gym which Jack intends to turn around with plenty of advertising and a bunch of hot girls plugging his product.

Getting back to the main character the down on his luck former college basketball star Chris Long who is torn between two relationships his former shallow but hot looking girlfriend Kim Hertz (Mircea Monroe) and his recently new co-worker Rachel Corelli who is down to earth and very supportive of Chris's ability to succeed and in his pursuit of happiness.

It is well worth a higher score than the picture is indicating so far and as such I rate it as a 7 out of 10 IMDb review score.

What can be said about "Dumbbells" that hasn't already been said about "Porky's","Losin' It", "Fraternity Vacation", "The Last American Virgin", "Screwballs", "Private Resort", "Hot Dog: The Movie", etc.? Not much, actually. They're all movies aimed at a specific audience demographic (young, horny males) and are filled with the requisite T & A and low-brow humor. They aren't all terrible films, but they won't end up on any AFI "Best" list, either. They set the bar low and, more often than not, succeed at some level.

So it is with "Dumbbells", a new film directed by Christopher Livingston and seeing a limited theatrical release now as well as being available via Video-on-Demand. This low-budget, amiable piece of cinematic fluff tells the tale of one Chris Long (Brian Drolet), art major and superstar forward for the NCAA basketball powerhouse that is LA Tech. (That alone is good for a laugh…) who after wrecking his knee, finds himself working at a dead-end job in a rundown gym. Things look to be going from bad to worse when the gym is taken over by former male supermodel Jack Guy (former male supermodel Hoyt Richards) who has dreams of producing a gym-based reality TV series to be hosted by Fabio. (Yes, apparently in Hollywood people still have dreams involving Fabio...) Things go from bad to worse to worser when Jack discovers a cult he was once involved in has absconded with all his money. Ah, but he has a plan to recover his money and save the gym. And so it goes…

A more interesting film might be made from the story of how star/co-screenwriter/co-producer Richards got some (fairly) well-known faces to appear in this film. Who? Well, comedians Tom Arnold and Jay Mohr (miles away from "True Lies" and "Jerry Maguire") have small roles. The aforementioned Fabio is along for the ride, Jaleel "Urkel" White plays the cult leader, and Hollywood living-legend Carl Reiner does a bit. With all due respect to Mr. Livingston, one wonders what might have been if they had been able to talk Carl Reiner into directing "Dumbbells" instead of appearing in it.

Accompanying Reiner in his bit is Nancy Olson (light years away from her Oscar-nominated role in "Sunset Boulevard") whose appearance so intrigued me I had to immediately try to figure out why. (Check the director's IMDb page for the obvious reason as to why she's in this film.) Also intriguing is the fact that apparently a bit of this film is autobiographical. Richards had his own cult experiences, and I suppose one could give him credit for taking what must have been a very difficult time for him and making light of it.

As low-budget comedies go, "Dumbbells" falls somewhere between complete disaster and rousing yuck-fest. A likable cast helps, and while you could have fun playing "spot the continuity errors", set your expectations as low as the budget and you'll find it a pleasant and surprisingly inoffensive (surprising based on the trailer...) time passer with a couple of laughs.

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Dumbbells starts out as a truly goofy funny story with some wacky characters and lots of girl candy! There are quick witted lines and comebacks by the actors. So the writers were on the ball because the laughs are fun and quick!

Then somewhere after the first half of the story the funny bits begin to dry up quickly and by the finish of the movie it has become amateurish and cute! The the engaging wackiness of the story becomes some biographical confession by Jack Guy the Bumbbells owner.

But all isn't lost - it's good lite entertainment with some genuine laughs for all!

Dumbbells is a fun, fun movie. The star appearances are awesome. The performers I didn't know before watching this movie impressed me. The lead, Brian Drolet, is a GREAT actor. Drolet also successfully executed his roles as writer and co-producer of Dumbbells.

When you watch this movie, appreciate it for what it is- a goofy comedy NOT making obvious efforts to reach the lowest common denominator by lazily thrusting itself into the sub genre of raunchy comedies. It's just a fun 100 minutes. Don't ever listen to critics. That includes their reviews of Dumbbells, which are nothing more than failed attempts at predicting how the audience will perceive movies.

I recommend Dumbbells to anyone who maintains good laughs and entertainment as the hallmarks of goofy comedies.

Don't sell this movie short. It is much better that you might think. Full of clichés but presented in a very effective way that it is more entertaining than they would otherwise be. A tired overused storyline comes across fresh and is careful to not be overdone. Acting is more than credible. Casting is good. Taylor Cole is excellent in a supporting role early in her career before she became a mainstream star of multiple romantic showcases on Lifetime and Hallmark. Well worth the time to watch and be ready to be pleasantly surprised with many clever comedic elements. Bottom line is that it's good to know that camp is still good.