Because Why

This movie has the feel of a continental movie about it. It is infinitely memorable, i loved the space the director gave the movie for the characters to grow and for things to happen. It is a quirky movie as other reviewers have written, and the humour is dry (though slapstick in places, which is really funny); but i liked the randomness of a lot of things in the movie because life is really like that. I was impressed by the scenery of Montreal. There are some very clever shots - for example one shot of the ceiling, to represent the hopelessness that a couple feel whilst lying in bed discussing the state of their relationship. I liked the character of Alex, who is somebody that life sort of happens to, and who finds himself resisting the urge to run when he starts being responsible for what happens around him.

I think you have to either be in the mood for this sort of movie, or be appreciative of the measured pace. A thoughtful movie well worth the time spent on watching it.

I first thought this film was a bit over the top with the simple and minimalistic dialogs but then the entire thing exploded in my head! This is what it meant to me: some people go through life reacting to whatever happens to them, that is, floating through each day, taking in events as they come and reacting spontaneously on the spot.

Flowing, flowing, letting the river take them, so to speak...

They don't have goals or dreams to follow. Some are just mindless, others are actually very smart but choose to experience reality this way, bypassing their logical minds and leaning more towards feelings, intuition, finding meanings in symbolism or like a surfer friend would say: "tripping things out".

In comes Alex, a character who seems to NOT have his own mind at all which frustrates a few around him and lead the way for some ridiculously funny situations. I personally thought the key to understanding his persona in the film happens during the scene where he sits in front of the piano. Is he just a simple and dumb guy? You'll definitely have a say after watching that bit! This excellent movie made me feel, somehow, ashamed of myself, that is, thinking about the couple years I spent being even worse than Alex and pissing a bunch of people off (as a result).

Although this is an alright movie, I rented it because I was under the impression that somewhere, at some point in the movie, there would be some reference to skateboarding, what with there being a skateboard on the front AND back cover. After viewing the entire movie I was quite upset and upon closer inspection of the cover it appears the skateboards were superimposed to attract idiots like me to rent and/or buy this movie. I guess the movie would've been okay if I hadn't been waiting for skateboarding to come into the plot or at least be referenced to at some point.

I loved this film, the cinematography and minimal dialogue have stayed with me for 20 years. I would love to watch it again if I could find it.

Granted, I did watch this movie at 12:30 am and was rather punchy at the time, but I still think this was a tremendously funny film. I love the dry humor and purposely stumbling mannerisms of all the characters. Those two kids were excellent. This movie had some of the most interesting and new humorous situations that I have ever seen. I especially liked the slow-moving firetruck, the opera-singing garbagemen, and the two old guys who tried to be pseudo-intellectuals ("Which is bigger, being or nothingness?"). Even though some things were predictable, i.e. Alex burning his bottom with a cigarette in the toilet, I still thought that they were performed with excellence (or was it purposely non-acting that made it funny?). All in all, I must say I liked the movie and it has provided me with some hilarious thoughts that I can continue to use to cheer me up.