LolliLove

This film really makes one appreciate just how brilliant Christpher Guest's mockumentaries are. It also makes one realize that a TV show like The Office is much harder to make than it might appear.

All that naturalistic mockumentary acting looks so easy, but if this film, Lollilove, proves anything it is that mockumentaries can be very hard to make.

There aren't any glaring mistakes in the film's production, but rather none of the elements of the film are done to the level that needs to be done to make these films work. The acting is just a tad overdone, the writing is slightly implausible, and the camera-work is amateur. All those small mistakes add up to bring the entire thing down to the level of mediocrity.

To be fair, the film seems like more of a casual side project than an attempt at film-making history. It seems that the actors obviously knew the film was kind of a lark and not something that should be taken very seriously. In fact, low budget films like this almost never get put out on DVD, so it is pretty interesting from that standpoint.

Even if you are a die hard fan of the genre, though, I would say that you could miss this film without any regret at all.

One of the most scathing, crude, funny, spot on satires I've ever seen. If you're looking for the darkest of satire unencumbered by a big studio that try's to be PC about everything this is the movie for you. Take time out to watch the outtakes, deleted scenes and all of the extras on the DVD. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. Fantastic.How they got everyone together without laughing long enough so they could complete this is a feat I'll never be able to do. Just the idea for the movie, passing out lollipops covered in wrappers that contain uplifting phrases and inspirational paintings - and then thinking that this will in some small way help homeless people, is inspired. Truly unique - and hilarious.

"That the lollipops of Lollilove may propel homeless people to going out and do something good with their lives. Feeling good about themselves. Perhaps getting a job. Maybe using birth control."

Lollilove is a pretty funny flick, but in a very dark way. Jenna Fisher must have quite the black sense of humor to write something like this, because many of the jokes cross the "politically correct" line in a way that you'd expect from Sarah Silverman, not from the angel-faced woman that so many people have become fans of because of The Office.

This mockumentary follows a vapid, shallow, wealthy couple (played by Jenna and her ex-husband), who feed their own vanity by coming up with an absurd scheme to help the homeless...by founding a charity named Lollilove. A charity that aims to inspire and help those living on the streets by giving them a lollipop every week. Lollipops with (supposedly) life-changing artwork and slogans written on custom (and very expensive) wrappers. The story follows them trying to procure a corporate sponsor and funding to get their "charity" up and running, and then we see them and a few of their friends put their plan into action. The relationship of the couple also gets tested by the strain of their efforts, and starts to deteriorate as Lollilove comes together.

As I said, this is a pretty dark comedy. You have to have a specific sense of humor to "get" it. When the jokes work, they work very well (the homeless man that confronts Jenna with his..."desires" near the end left my side hurting from laughing), but there are also some that fall flat. Still, for such a low budget production, I though Lollilove was fairly impressive. At the very least, fans of Fisher should check it out.

As a fan of the good people at Troma's work and ideals, it was on visiting the Troma site that I stumbled on this gem; a mockumentary about helping the homeless by giving them lollies, Lollilove is a sharp satire about helping those less fortunate and a strong debut from Jenna Fischer, but not without flaws.

The characters are well written, and the cast are believable and funny. Even Lloyd Kaufman, in one of his stronger role, as Father Lloyd. James Gunn gets most of the laughs as the ridiculous artist husband, making a number of very un-pc statements - his character is improved for it. The editing, though, is the films trump card, making the film hold together better than most mockumentaries (and a lot of the Troma back catalogue for that matter), looking a lot more professional than its meagre budget justifies. Though Lollilove isn't your average Troma picture and probably won't please all Troma fans, this does share the Troma independent spirit and the dark macabre humour.

That said, there are flaws, the major one being its length; a 65 minute running time, which for a feature film is not long enough to be truly satisfying, at least to this cinephile; yes, the deleted scenes on the DVD would have harmed the film had they been included, but Lollilove would have benefited an extra day or twos shooting, and 10 minutes more the running length. One clumsy directorial choice was the bleeping of swearing, intended to make Lollilove more like a TV show, but seems out of place given the dark nature of humour. Also, a couple of points in the film the joke ratio isn't as strong as it could be, especially when compared to the work of Christopher Guest (a tough comparison point, being that he's an auteur of this genre).

Though not perfect, Lollilove is a wicked satire, a promising debut, and a good Troma title to boot. Perhaps to fully appreciate this film, it is necessary to note the low budget production values, and the work done between husband and wife Jenna and James Gunn. This is worth further investigation if your a fan of mockumentaries, and have a dark sense of humour.

A yuppie couple want to give something back to the community. They have a scheme which involves giving out special lollipops to the homeless. They believe that the homeless could learn self-worth via lollies wrapped in special wrappers covered in inspirational slogans and drawings.

This low budget mockumentary is quite surprisingly a product of the Troma studio. I say unexpected as their brand of comedy could best be described as 'wilfully stupid', whereas this film contains a comedy of a far subtler variety. The two stars are Jenna Fischer and James Gunn, who also wrote the thing. It's a very good bit of work from them as they both put it great comic performances as the narcissistic couple who are so self-obsessed they never realise just how ridiculous their foolish scheme is. The writing too is pretty good with a lot of black comedy and satire. But the most impressive thing for me was that I found myself actually laughing aloud a few times which is more than happens with most comedies. Not a bad effort at all.