Men Seeking Women

Clearly produced with a low budget, this movie made me laugh often enough to warrant the rental. It's a guy premise - but that works for me ! It's interesting to see the big stars of today before they had established their commercialized characters. The seeds are evident and I enjoyed it.

What a tedious, pointless, totally unfunny movie! Who the heck thought making this thing was a good idea? It's about three guys who can't get girlfriends... and apparently the reason they can't get girlfriends is that they're all droning bores with no personality. But hey, I guess they're not really bad - they're just written that way! Nothing about this movie is amusing in any way. I suppose it might make an audience titter occasionally out of boredom and embarrassment. Picture being button-holed by the kind of guy you try to avoid at a party and told bad dating stories for an hour and a half - that's pretty much the experience this film offers.

I bought "Men Seeking Women" for three dollars at a Blockbuster while on vacation. It had no cover, no rating and a production company I had never heard of. This kind of activity is my cup of tea, although it is a hit and miss hobby...i discovered my favorite movie this way and it seems the rest ive wanted to shut off within the first five minutes.

The first five minutes of "Men Seeking Women" thankfully showed some promise. After an impressive opening credits sequence, it eases into its story with a series of funny scenes developing three best friends- Les (Grant Shaud), Nick (Anthony Palmero) and Al (Will Farrel). They are in their early 30's, and were born right next to each other. Yes this is very far-fetched, but it gives them a sense of brotherhood and commradery.

On their 33rd birthday, they go clubbing and strike out so bad its depressing, even more so being that this is the third birthday in a row they have gone home empty handed. They go back to their apartment and stay up late, discussing their complaints about how their life isn't where they wanted it to be and more so how they can't find a woman.

Les strikes up a plan. To get themselves motivated, he suggests they make a bet where whoever can stay with a girl for a few months is the winner. They each ante $2,000 and resort to personal ads to start things up.

This is where the film's best moments are. In my favorite scene, they answer ads in front of eachother with a superficial confidence that quickly wears away as they stutter and say ridiculously stupid things.

"Men Seeking Women" isn't wacky and gross-out, but surprisingly more honest. Its jokes all center around the fact that these three men are extremely pathetic losers. Their professional and social lives are in the drain, and the underlying story is if they are ever going to get out.

I was also surprised that the ending wasn't as predictable and trite as I was more than expecting it to be. This is where some of the flaws come in, however. For example, one subplot is wrapped up in a jarringly serious scene, throwing the film's balance off.

I love the players in "Men Seeking Women", but especially Will Farrel. Farrel's early role is a performance that foreshadows a much-deserved mainstream acting career that he later obtained with films like "Old School" and "Elf". He creates his character Al brilliantly with child-like wariness and boiling-point frustration.

This is a fun film not to be taken seriously. Its one of those romantic comedies that is equally entertaining when viewed with both the guys and the lady.

I bought the film because of Will Ferrell's picture on cover. I thought it would be more of a comedy than it really was. But the laughs weren't that plentiful. But the film is a real gem.

Three friends looking for meaningful relationships, bite off more than they anticipate. Their motivated by a mutual bet benefiting the one that can achieve a relationship that includes at least 3 months "live together" time.

Through their pursuits they learn about life, love and themselves.

It's not what you might expect from a Will Ferrell film, but it really is a great film, and a must have DVD.

If you think writing and directing comedy is easy, watch this movie. It gives one a new appreciation of how hard those crafts can be.

Here, two accomplished comedic actors, Will Ferrell and Grant Shaud (Miles from "Murphy Brown") grimace their way through a painfully dull script. Despite being a Will Ferrell-worshipper, I did not laugh a single time.