The Clapper

I found The Clapper to be a very absorbing film, but odd in a number of parts.

It was a very good study with elements of Educating Rita, when compared to the evaluation of certain long-held ideas: that becoming "famous" is desirable, that it is OK to use people for financial gain, and that just because you want something you should have it, regardless of the morals and responsibilities that go with the territory.

America's obsession with becoming famous, and becoming rich (& famous) for basically doing nothing but being famous, is lightly viewed here, and I can't fathom why the script called for such low intelligence depicted by the characters Eddie & Chris.

We are all subject to the seduction of money and "elevating our status", and certainly the hegemony of America's wealthy is shown to some degree and put to the test. However I felt it wasn't necessary to have Eddie & Chris shown as less to lower average intelligence, and therefore grossly gullible. The greed of getting something for nothing as depicted by the network executives is interesting, as was the price of eventual "fame", but I would have been more interested in seeing how persons of average intelligence find it so difficult to earn a living in a country that allegedly worships the dollar and is fixated on making a buck at the expense of "the other guy" - more egalitarian countries don't have the socio-economic problems that such predatory behaviour brings. Being used & discarded is distasteful to anyone, and the likes of Hilton & Kardashian cashing in on vapidity is hopefully a trend that will ultimately end, when networks stop trying to sell advertising by elevating such lack of ability to do anything & its hollowness is finally recognised.

Two marks above pass from me, and I hope to see more of the same in the future - its getting very difficult to find a film that is thoughtful, reflective and interesting to anyone over 25 these days, we don't all need explosions and gun play, and yes we still go to the cinema and pay for tickets - please stop ignoring your most loyal audience !

Writer director Dito Monteil has some decent if not interesting credits to his name, ('A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints'), but his latest film falls absolutely flat. "The Clapper" starts out with a brilliant premise; what if a normal, broken-ish man was thrust into unwanted fame? Would he fully break? Accept it? Deny it? Fight it? All would make for interesting answers, and compelling storytelling; sadly 'The Clapper' offers none lf them. Although it features an astounding cast, (Helms continues to prove his merit as a dramatic actor, Morgan is great as usual, Peters makes the most out of a thankless/one dimensional role, and Levine proves he still has some talent without a microphone; Remni is also strong in a nothing role and Seyfried does her damndest to make her poorly written character interesting), and some hilarious cameos, there's not much else of note. The premise goes nowhere, the film has tonal whiplash; moving from dramatic to funny to unsettling, and by the finale, nothing much of note has been said. This could have been many things; a Taxi Driver for the digital age, a dark satire or a straight up romantic comedy. Instead it tries halfheartedly for all three tones and grasps none of them. Even at face value, it seems like a bygone genre, a 'Mr. Smith Goes to Hollywood' with Ed Helms as Jimmy Stewart, but it can't even get that right. Additionally - there's so much left out thay could have been great - cameos from industry insiders, (Billy Banks and Vince Offer make appearances, as well as buisiness guru Mark Cuban); the aforementioned premise that could have gone wild with cell phone media, (filmed in late 2016 and released in 2018, the film feels like it was shot in 2009), as well as the superb cast, the film feels like nothing but a waste of time and talent. Hopefully someone else can either remake or use the premise for 'The Clapper' somewhere else, because it had so much promise. All in all, the brilliant cast makes the 'The Clapper' watchable, but just barely. Good enough for viewing on a cold rainy sunday, but not much else.

This film tells the story of a man whose life is turned upside down by a TV show.

It is a great film because Eddie is a down to Earth man who is just like most people who watch this film. I can relate to him easily, as a man who is just trying to make a living. I sympathise with him when his life is basically wrecked by the TV show. It is a great romantic comedy that also explores boundaries of privacy.

I had high hopes for The Clapper-the premise seemed great and I love Amanda Seyfried and Ed Helms. But half an hour in, I ended up fast forwarding to the end of the film. Helms and Seyfried do a great job and their love story was sweet, but the rest of the film didn't really know what it wanted to be. The cast does a great job, but they can't save this sinking ship.

This movie is apparently based on a book, but I'm not interested in reading it after seeing the film.

Although there's a romantic aspect, and although there are some laughs, this is really a drama. This poor schmuck is taken advantage of as he gets 15 minutes of fame he never asked for. He doesn't have much to begin with, and now he's lost even that. It's pretty depressing, to be honest! But it's a good story.