treemarc

I saw this film this morning, and aside from the ending, I walked out feeling fairly positive about it. However my wife was ENRAGED by it, making for an interesting drive home. She made a pretty good case for her opinion, which why I'm rating this a 5- right down the middle.

I was hoping for a dark comedy...it's no secret this is about a suicidal person, but I had heard it had comedic elements. And it did...however, they had little to do with the actual story. Told in flashback, the main character, the agoraphobic Leo, explains what has brought him to the brink of suicide. So why is he recounting the story of meeting his "first 'Emo'". The scene is entertaining and funny, and yet an inconsequential event in his life. It's great for the audience, but why would he be turning it over in his mind at the brink of suicide? There are several other funny or touching sequences, all highlights, and all completely out of place.

Another character which leads to a major turning point in the film is barely developed at all. Leo's landlord is painted as a ridiculous caricature, but later becomes an important influence on him, delivering a moving speech. I didn't have a problem with that twist (my wife did), but it still doesn't explain why Leo invites this buffoon to an intimate dinner party earlier.

And finally, there's the "shocking" secret that has been tormenting Leo. Unfortunately, it's completely ridiculous, and is shot in a way that destroys any impact. Without giving any spoilers, there is a detail in the flashback that just seems like the filmmakers way of cranking up the shock value, but it just seemed silly to me. Quick cutaways without too much detail would have probably been far more disturbing in the hands of the right filmmaker.

From there, it's a quick downhill slide into the dumbest plot device since the glasses of water in "Signs", and a "happy" ending that I hope was forced on the filmmaker. Cutting to black 3 minutes early would have resulted in a far more depressing film, but one I would be more willing to forgive.

The lead actress is solid from beginning to end, and I hope to see more of her. The gentleman who plays Leo is fantastic in the comedic scenes, but falters in the more intense material. I liked Leo, which made me WANT to like this film, but it's just too much of a mess in hindsight. I wonder if there's room on USA's slate for a 1 hour comedy/drama about a quirky agoraphobic genius...maybe after "Monk". Leo is a great character in search of a good film.

First of all, the music in Quasi was by Al Dodge and Robert Armstrong, who have no connection to Oingo Boingo. However, Danny Elfman did do the soundtrack to Sally's film "Face Like A Frog", which included the Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo song "Don't Go In The Basement" (Actually, even here there's confusion...not sure if it's an old MKotOB song, or a new Elfman song, but it's credited simply to "Mystic Knights") Second, there is no "Ego Trip" scene in this, though it does sound like something that WOULD be in it. This may be from another of Sally's films...I have not seen them all.

Whoever said that the "same guy" (Sally's a she!) must have done some Sesame St cartoons is correct...though most of the ones I've been able to find are from the late 80's and aren't familiar to me. I assumed she was responsible for some of the trippy 70's ones.

I first saw Quasi on PBS late one night in the 80's. I was excited to see it pop up on Youtube recently...posted by Sally herself along with some other works. She also sells DVDs of them.

I just saw this for the first time in 10 or 15 years...maybe close to 20. In some ways, it was better than I remembered...in other, it was MUCH worse.

First of all, there's the music. It's just plain awful. There are only 5 songs in the movie, most of them used more than once. The opening song is shrieked by a chorus of annoying children, and the disco-y title track is performed by Rick Dees. It doesn't get any worse than that. Even the background music is terrible, with much of it repeating the themes of the other nauseating tunes. We also get some truly lame slapstick, mostly in the opening credits.

On the other hand, Bill Murray is spot on brilliant as usual...you have to wonder if he ad-libbed the whole thing, or if the writers just gave him all the funny lines. Or maybe he's just that great- turning a weak script into comic genius. The best part are his surreal PA announcements. ("Lobsters...get out of here...you're a menace!")

You also get a lot more character development than you have any right to expect in a movie like this. At least half the characters seem like real people...and mostly real people you would like to have around. Even "Spaz" gets to do a more than any other Eddie Deezen-type character ever did, and when he gets the girl, it's plausible. (She's not absurdly hot, but he doesn't automatically pair up with one of the nerd girls- see "Revenge Of The Nerds" for examples of both cinematic phenomenons.)

And when the plot seems clichéd...well, ya gotta wonder if it wasn't a cliché yet when they made this. While it wasn't the first summer camp movie- ya gotta go back at least to "The Parent Trap"- it's certainly the movie that made it it's own genre. In fact, I was surprised that there was no Talent Show scene..."Wet Hot American Summer" spoofed the summer-camp genre so perfectly, I just assumed everything in it came straight out of Meatballs. (I also half-expected Jon Cryer to pull up in a convertible with a chimp, thanks to "Mr. Show's" epic camp-olympiad spoof "Monk Academy")

Anyway, this one seems to be vanishing a little as far as the late-70's/early 80's comedies- it's not a cable staple anymore, and certainly doesn't have the cult following of Caddyshack or Animal House. I was pleased to catch it on Showtime today- and in High Definition at that! Sure, it's pretty awful in spots, but you could do a lot worse in a 70's/80's teen comedy. And again, Murray is a genius.