29 Palms

`29 Palms' is such a bad movie...no, wait, it's so bad one can't even call it a movie, so, let me start again...'29 Palms' is such a bad abomination , disguised as a movie, that there are no words negative enough to describe it. Let's put it this way, I'm embarrassed to say I even watched it all the way through. It's so bad that my DVD player never worked right again after running it.

It's a big sloppy mess, but it's not half as bad as some comments would leave you to believe. The story goes all over the place, but the story is just a thread. There's a lot of Coen Brothers and a bit of David Lynch in this film. Wonderfully weird and unlikeable characters, nicely composed, sparse scenes nicely photographed and the humor is not of the joke/punch line school, which is probably why there are many disappointed comments. The budget for this film could not be called shoestring, it's more like twine. Still, despite the disassociated story - I mean, who has the money really doesn't matter, it's just getting us from point A to point B - it's quite an accomplishment. Some people like their films to be obvious stories that are easy on the eyes, this is a more subtle form of entertainment with a garish touch.

While pleased to see Bruce Gillis finally get a film released for all his effort as a filmmaker, this film is a great disappointment. Great cast, weak script and production. The plot is thin, and hard to follow. Keith David and Chris O'donnell deserve better.

I cannot exactly say that I hated it, nor can I say I loved it. I can see how some people think it is a complete mess, but as you watch it, it does sort of come together at the end. There seems to be a lot of holes in the plot. Somethings never really get answered, and if that is what the director and/or writer was going for, then they did their job. I found the individual performances pretty interesting, but as a whole they seemed all over the place. I kind of felt like the film should have been called Six Degrees of Devil's Casino.

If you have an extra hour and thirty-three minutes to spare, it might be worth it to expand your movie selection and just check it out. I mean I have watched a lot of B rated films and I cannot say it was any worse than those. I agree with a lot of the people on here when they say the shots on location are actually what makes this film worth while. Since most of it is shot in the dessert, it makes for an interesting look.

Extremely disappointing story, completely lacking originality and creative flair.

Wasted cast, no development, too much reliance on coincidence, not funny, not interesting to look at... put you off yet? Story is the old hackneyed idea of a misplaced bag of money. Seen it done before? Probably. Each introduced character wants to get their hands on the stash of cash and we're given Jeremy Davies' character to cheer on, and others to jeer on.

What follows lacks any freshness or interest, which is really disappointing. Probably what could've saved this, if anything, would be a dash of Coen perspective and dark humour. A sudden attempt at inventive editing in the last twenty minutes does little to pick up the pace (if you're still awake) and even a turn by Bill Pullman can't do much to save it. Rachel Leigh Cook is pretty, though...