Live!

Well... I am a fan of really serious movies. This one had me jumping starting 01:30:44. Although, I wouldn't advise the future viewers to skip to that part. In that case - you will not understand the plot of the movie. Everything else - the way the movie was shot, the dialog and etc - are pretty good. Although the director of the movie has debuted (as much as I know - he used to be a documentary director) very well. This movie really make you think. Makes you think about your decisions in life, about the life itself and it's value... Makes you think about the things people do and the reasons behind their actions. I would recommend this movie to everyone that is old (and smart) enough to understand it.

P.S. "Live!" is well under-rated...

The story is original and shocking. I don't understand people saying it's implausible, because "there would never be such a show on TV". After years of reality TV, facebook, no privacy, no anonymity and attention seeking people, I think this is exactly what could happen on TV soon. People get bored too fast, you see and read lots of crazy stuff on media nowadays and yes- people love to see other people suffer, get embarrassed and get hurt. We are a mean species of animals and this movie shows exactly that- Schadenfreude and Unfallglotzer (people starring at car crashes). I think this story is telling us something about ourselves. Even tough I would never want to approve such a TV show by watching it, I would probably still watch at least one episode out of curiosity and the pleasure of being shocked by something far away, that doesn't concern my life at all.

Although I found the message of the movie somewhat cliché (as I'm sure many, including the writer(s), will agree) and I thought I spotted a plot hole here or there, it had a decent script, effective directing and decent acting from the entire cast. That's decent twice, because although I definitely feel that this production deserved the time, money and energy invested, I am more looking forward to seeing the director's future, hopefully more refined work.

However, as someone said in a discussion thread below, the climax really made you feel as if you were transported into the semi-fictional world of the film, despite being aware of what your own reality is like. That's a tough thing to accomplish, and that, combined with several other moments of effective self-reference by the movie, can only cause me to conclude that it's a solid piece of work by all involved, and it shows definite promise of To sum up: overall worth watching at least once.

This fictional movie titled Live stars a really cute Eva Mendes for writer/director Bill Guttentag. It follows a mockumentary style feauturing Mendes as an ambitious network executive deciding to produce a show where contestants will play Russian roulette LIVE (that's where the title comes from) and for real. She thinks (rightly) it will be the most watched television program ever. The movie is social jab at all those reality programs based upon real life human emotions and drama to win audience figures (X-Factor and Big Brother for instance but in general all the programs that are now too many). Eva Mendes is impressive in her cynical role, but what also impresses is certainly the fact that everyone ends up being even more cynical than her, the network Counsel as well. Don't know whether this kind of show will take place sooner or later, that is mainly the massage of the story, but certainly this flick delivers a strong and effective message/warning for everyone. The movie is also somehow funny (another paradox) when showing audience's and TV staff's feelings immediately turning from desperation to a "the show must go on" mood after the two deaths.

The greedy ABN television network executive Katy Coubert (Eva Mendes) is seeking a way to increase the audience of her network. She recalls the arenas, police car chases and several other examples through history to demonstrate that people enjoy watching blood and she has the idea of producing a controversial reality show of Russian Roulette with six contestants and five-million dollars for each winner. Katy has to convince the network Powers That Be that the show will be well successful and will increase the TV ratings while the network lawyer Don (Andre Braugher) convinces the authorities to allow the late night show.

Then she selects the six contestants: the aspirant actress Jewel (Katie Cassidy); the Mexican gay cook Pablo (Jay Hernandez); the aspirant writer Byron (Rob Brown); the performer Abalone (Monet Mazur); the just graduated student and surfer Brad (Eric Lively); and Rick (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Will the show be well-succeeded?

"Live!" is a drama with a great storyline that shows how far a TV might dare to go to increase the audience that loves to see tragedies and other bloody event. Unfortunately the idea of making of a documentary is unoriginal and serves only to make a cheaper movie, with a terrible camera work. The conclusion is not a surprise for a society that worships weapons. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ao Vivo!" ("Live!")