Pirates of the Great Salt Lake

Pirates on the Great Salt Lake, what a novel idea. The film was clever--an evil pawn broker, two pirates, a worried mother, a gypsy, a detective, and a girl seeking a bad boy. The pirates are of course looking for buried treasure; their dialogue and comic relief was hilarious and they take you to the end of the journey effortlessly. The pawn broker makes an excellent villain. The cinematography was amazing, I never realized the Great Salt Lake was so beautiful, it is breathtaking. The film has a good message and the soundtrack is very well done. I would recommend this film to anyone that liked Office Space, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, or My Name is Earl (TV show).

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I wanted to see it again, and in the end that's what matters. It is a typical low-budget indie film in that some of the acting was average at best but the two leads had a wonderful chemistry and played interesting characters. I wanted to spend time with them and see what happens. The director was good, and while definitely not perfect, you can tell he had a vision and was telling a story he wanted to tell. There is an authenticity which was refreshing, despite the odd premise. There are times it drags and feels like it's lost but no matter where you think it's headed, you'll be wrong. That being said, I found it charming. At its heart it is amusing and there are parts where it's laugh-out-loud funny. If you do NOT enjoy odd characters and quirky comedies, (a la "Lars And the Real Girl", "Napoleon Dynamite", maybe "A Mighty Wind") skip this one. If you like character-driven, unique movie experiences, give it a try.

Pretty lame excuse for a treasure hunt movie. Childish nonsense gives way to total nonsense, in this supposed comedy. The simple minded plot, or lack thereof, is two guys dressed as pirates cavorting all around the "Great Salt Lake". The scenery is far more interesting than the story, and even that eventually wears thin. Watching two nitwits play out their pirate fantasy for almost an hour and a half with nothing more than a couple of chuckles, is not my idea of entertainment. Go back and watch "Dumb and Dumber" if you suddenly get the urge to see a great dumb buddy movie, and avoid "Pirates of the Great Salt Lake" entirely. - MERK

Okay, first off, I LOVE pirates, pirate movies, stories, books, shows, most anything pirate-related, such is why I rented this from Netflix. This movie was entertaining about the first 20-30 minutes, then the story became drab and poorly put together. There was little to no sense throughout the remainder of the film, and despite what has been written in many reviews above, you can tell this was filmed in three weeks, and the script seemed to be written in a lot less time than that. Kirby Heyborne who I've never heard of or seen before, did an excellent job with his performance, even though he had little to work with, and was about the only good thing about this movie. Trenton James gave a more than decent performance as well. As for the rest of the cast, appeared more like friends and family, than actual talented or trained actors. The description is that of "Two Teenagers," but yet neither of the main characters looks even close enough to play a Senior in college, so either the casting was bad, or the description should have been changed. I have a feeling that the majority of the positive comments hailing this film as great, are from people associated with the film, and/or members of the "Free The Pirate" fan club. The "Idea" is good, and I can get past the quality of filming with low-to-no budget films, when the quality of the story is prevalent, this, however, is not one of those cases. As with any opinion on a movie or anything at all, it is just that, an opinion. I still however support filmmakers who want to get their stuff out there, but as well, I support the honesty and criticism of people close to me, and would've hoped those close to the makers of this film, had told them to spend much more time during pre-production before diving in.

In short: This is a great indie flick, and if I said anything more I'd give it away, so watch it yourselves ye scurvy dogs!

In long: It's really hard for me to believe that a movie this good took six months to make from idea to post-production, it was really great. I loved the excellent characters and plot presented in the movie. The story is honestly funny with very few cheap gags, and the actors go over the top in a way that makes them genuinely believable. The film work was excellently done, and the locations that were chosen perfectly set the mood of the film. The whole movie just embodies the classic pirate feeling that pirate fanatics have come to cherish; it has cursed treasure, romance, thrills, conflict, and plenty of laughs throughout. I hate to compare it to something like Napoleon Dynamite, but there are definite similarities between the two, strictly in the sense that both are highly quotable and are destined to become cult classics. Really though, if you like pirates, you'll love this movie.