Juego Prohibido

I've never seen the movie, but I did get to know David Stutman (the Producer) and I can personally see why he sued Leo DiCaprio and all of his agents for basically stopping the movie from distribution and thereby stopping a lot of people from getting paid.

Stutman and some of the others in the producer/writer/actor group were very close friends - there was a lot of smoking pot, drinking, and sexual conduct (not limited to heterosexuality, and involving two big name actors, if you catch my drift). The movie, while seen as a very endearing art-house-style flick by the actors, suddenly became dangerous when Dicaprio was in pre-production for Titanic and Toby was being slated for Cider House rules. With Titanic being released that year and Cider House a year or so later, Don's Plum basically amounted to an early heavily contrasted look at the two actors that the public should never take. Leo's agent's filed an injunction that Stutman had illegally created a movie that Hollywood lawyers had not been present to administer signing of.

Long story short, Stutman made a movie that was distributed 5 years later to the back of the VHS/DVD bin, when it might have been a hit if it was sold or even screened simultaneously with Titanic. I believe that the studio settled with him and forced him to put it off 5 years. I still remember Stutman well, with his tiny house in the middle of Venice Beach, with two big dalmations and a slew of precious Disney cels.

When I rented this film, I was not aware that it was hard to get. I thought it hadn't released in the cinema in Belgium because it was too dark and had simple ended up in a dim corner of the rental place. I didn't have too high expectations. Afterwards I checked for user comments here and felt people were being a bit too harsh. It is true that impact is a little bit lost sometimes because it's hard to relate with the characters. It's hard to admit for anyone that they've asked out a 'friend' sometimes just for accompaniment and self-gratification like the characters seem to do in this film. But I'm a 100 % sure that everyone has done it at least once in their life. This film is hard to watch cause it takes this very aspect of relationships and puts in under a magnifying glass. I even had to interrupt watching it, cause the brutality was making me nervous. I think the film is good in the way that it had it's desired effect. It's not your cup of tea if you want to watch something entertaining, something fun with your friends. Acting is very interesting. Because it mainly plays in the same room and the film is in black and white attention is focused on the words, and even more on the gestures and facial expressions of the characters. It's worth watching if you want to watch something that's not main stream. I hope I've helped constructing the right expectations for this film.

this is definitely a movie that is not always easy to watch. Its about a group of kids that go and hang out at a restaurant called "Don's Plum". if you are a fan of any of the actors in the movie you really should try to see it. there are some really interesting performances by Dicaprio, Maguire, and Jeremy Sisto . You will definitely see them all in a way that you have never seen them before

If you like naturalistic films, then this film is for you. If you are mesmerised by smoke rising from your cigarette, then this film is for you. Hell, if you appreciate independent film, then there is no point in excluding this one.

Headed by a talented young cast including some of the most famous male actors of Generation X, do not expect the typical mindless American mash that fills up the majority of the shelving space in our video stores. Notably, Leonardo Di Caprio and Tobey Maguire accomplish creating characters that are polar to the characters the audience has come so use to seeing them play. These are in no way the finest performances of the cast so far, but the characters are sharp, interesting and well executed.

Don's Plum contains a hypnotic plot that is completely absent of seen-before action sequences and predictable twists. It is a simple story of a group of friends, the issues that they have had, are having and will have in time to come. The themes brought up throughout the film are relevant to every posse - homosexuality, comradeship, loyalty, ethics, morals, tolerance etc. Most importantly, the viewer is encouraged to arrive at a point of self reflection, as the characters so frequently do in the toilet mirror throughout the film.

Shot in black and white, the emotion of the actors is intensified almost dissolving the other physical elements of the film into insignificance. The acting is unconstrained, even impulsive at times, blurring the line between the character and the actor playing them. The use of sound and music is cleverly executed, with silence and the effect it can have when arriving upon a group of people, playing a major role. The other elements in the film are nowhere near a breakthrough, but are overall appropriate.

If you want to feel motivated to stay in touch with friends or if a favourite of yours is in the cast, get off the couch and watch it. Even if these don't apply to you, there is no harm in checking it out to roast some appreciation of the cast and crew's efforts in a unblemished independent film.

Don't press stop as soon as the credits appear...

Don's Plum. The first time I heard the name, and about the controversy surrounding it, especially with DiCaprio and Macguire, I thought it was a gay romance. On watching it however, I found it to be an interesting, insightful and sometimes confusing bit of film making. Some of the characters are very well portrayed, with their own quirks, and it was the first movie I'd where Leo actually acts. His character, Derek, is not a cute, romantic, retarded guy. He's an annoying, selfish try-hard that seeks attention from the group by whatever means necessary. Ian, Toby's character, is fantastic. He's like a kid with ADD, and for all we know, he does. He's a pacifist, a non-conformer and he's slightly out of it. Macguire does an awesome job with Ian, and it was nice to see a different character from him, other than a wishy-washy pussy-whipped wimp like in Pleasantville or Cider House Rules, or a try-hard super-hero like in Spiderman. The female stars by far outshine their male counterparts. Jenny Lewis is amazing as the dope-addicted Sarah. She brings out a real sense of pathos, though her script needed some work. Amber Benson role as Amy is small, and the only reason Amy is there is to show how much of an arsehole Derek is. The movie is a good sample of what can happen with experimental film. The idea works very well and the small soliloquies in the bathroom are just great. The editing is a bit choppy in some places, and the sound mix could be better, but overall I was very satisfied with the end product. Why Leo and Toby wanted the distribution of the Plum to be suppressed is beyond me.