Twenty Million People

For everyone who saw Silver Linings Playbook and thought that it was a typical Hollywood romantic comedy trying to pitch itself as something different; I urge you to go see Twenty Million People and have your faith in movie making restored.

This film is everything a romantic comedy should be. Often when characters in movies have too quick a wit and the banter is too clever it serves to alienate you from those characters and made them less "human" and more shtick. Here, the cynical and ironic humor is clearly being used by the characters as a way of avoiding being vulnerable and open (while still being hilarious). The humor here actually bring you closer to the characters and makes them more real and likable without ever seeming forced or too scripted. (as a side note: Getting a chance to meet Michael Ferrell in person, I found him to be just as quick and funny as the character he portrays).

In addition, the romance here feels very real. The characters aren't falling head over heels for each other after one glance, or chasing after trains to tell each other that they've "always loved them". Instead they are often more at home sending text messages than interacting in person and are trying to navigate how to find intimacy in a world where technology seems to keep us more and more at an arms length from those around us.

Anyone with an opportunity to see this film should absolutely do so. Who knows, you may even fall in love with it.

It's refreshing to watch a movie with characters you can relate to. So, many films have characters that struggle with human issues but they are doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, etc. With "Twenty Million People" we follow the lives of average Joes working normal jobs and dealing with universal matters of the heart. This romantic comedy is cut from the same blue collar fabric of the classic Kevin Smith films of the 90s., full of backhanded, witty dialogue as the normal guy spouts nuggets of wisdom while wiping the counters down at work. We all have suffered through the mundane tasks of a job we don't even like, trapped while the one we love slips through our fingers. It feels familiar like a natural turn onto a left exit, it feels familiar, not because you've seen it before, but because you've lived it. For the average thinking person this is a perfect romcom.

(Originally reviewed at http://popcornandvodka.com in February 2013 for the Cinequest Film Festival.)

"I really liked this one film, it's a romantic comedy."

"Oh, that's– Wait, YOU liked a romantic comedy???"

Yes, yes I did, and that says a lot. TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE is great film without the gag-worthy love smarm. This film is about real life dating, real life relationships, and real life, flawed people. It's about not saying what you mean, and paying the consequences for it. It's about assuming things without asking questions, and living with the results. It's about working for what you want, and not giving up.

This is real life. Adult life.

Brian (Michael Ferrell) meets and loses the girl of his dreams, and spends the rest of the film looking for her and/or debating whether he's wasting his time. He's helped by his good friend Edward (Chris Prine) AND the two fictional characters of the last wretched romantic comedy he watched himself. This smug and smarmy couple keep popping up and giving him advice, but what good relationship advice can ever be gleaned from a romantic comedy?

This is a great film, and in my top 3 films of the Cinequest Film festival so far. Yes, a Rom-Com. Yes, I really liked this film. Besides a pretty original story, or at least a twist on the rom-com formula, the actors in this film are outstanding. Michael Ferrell performs a film hat trick by writing, directing AND starring in his own film, and he pulls it off with no complaints from me. Special notice goes to Tom Bartos as the skeevy but hilarious manager of the coffee shop where Brian works. And I cannot forget Devin Sanchez as the antithesis of your typical romantic comedy female. Jennifer Aniston she's not, and I'm telling you that's a GOOD thing. Devin's character, Ashley, is flawed and unintentionally causes problems, but she is also a good human being just trying to figure her way through life.

Please let us see more films from Michael Ferrell.

This is a beautifully filmed (great camera work!) movie. The story is so on-target for today and this a very well-acted film. A young man dealing with his feeling and fear of intimacy.

It's a well made film with interesting and very real characters some fun and funny. Pay attention to the well-written dialogue. Enjoy the all-to-brief stand-up comedy routine, and the clever notion of film characters coming out of the film to take part in the lives of the lead characters.

Darling actors that you will want to see because their stars are just rising, and like me, you can say 'hey, I saw them in their first film' Take note, they will be around!

Michael Ferrell's "Twenty Million People" breaks the romantic comedy standards and guidelines. I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing this film at my college in Wyoming where actress Devin Sanchez attended awhile back. The chemistry between the love interests as well as friends (mainly Ferrell's and Chris Prine's relationship) feel natural beyond such films like Judd Apatow's "Funny People" or "Knocked Up." This film reminded me much of Woody Allen's "Play It Again, Sam," with it's deep relational reluctances of getting too close. Not only is the story refreshingly original, but its locations and shooting styles are beautiful. Not many films are shot in Jersey City, so each unique location has a flavor of something new and tasteful, not the overused club and Broadway scenes of New York. For anyone wanting to understand not just love but true friendship, I highly recommend this film. Keep an eye out for these three...they're going to be big.