Ladies Room

My husband and I rented this film thinking it might be a classic farce, as the cover copy suggested. Thirty or so minutes in, we were wondering if we had rented a movie that had never actually been watched by the person writing the promotional material. It was slow and not a comedy, in our opinion, and definitely *not at all* like the description. We were bored and disappointed and ended up returning the film to the rental store.

While the film is most definitely not what the video cover would suggest (a farce), it does turn out to be a wonderful surreal comedy, with (gasp!) a point to the story. I understand why some may be to say the least disappointed however, I found it to be very entertaining art piece, which is not easily done. Recommended for viewers who enjoy something a bit off (not in a screwball way, but in an artistic way). Those who are looking for a good classic farce (and I love a good farce) are better off with "Clue" or "Noises Off", two of my personal favorites.

When I saw this DVD in the "special offer" bin at a local book store (for only 2 Euros) I was surprised I had never heard of it before. When I watched it, it became clear why you never see any reference to it.

The reason I bought it was exclusively because of the cast. Just look at it; this can't be a bad movie, can it? Yes, it can. The actors do their trick and they do it well, but there doesn't seem to be much coherence. The story is rather confusing and not because it is so complicated (which it isn't) but simply because you never know what the story is actually about. Don't get me wrong; telling a story with different story lines can be very interesting, but this is definitely no 'Magnolia'. The various elements just don't seem to come together. I have the feeling that this is some kind of private project, for and by friends only, not really meant to reach a large audience.

My advice: if you're a fan of one of the actors (Malkovich is great as always), get to see it if you get a chance, but don't spend too much money on it.

Seeing John Malkovich and Greta Scacchi on the cover credits raised expectations, but this film was very disappointing in many ways. The director was apparently quite desperate to make this an "arty" movie, but the acting was very poor at times and the attempts at jokes were embarrassingly bad. I just couldn't believe that John Malkovich agreed to appear in such a low quality film....

After renting this movie, my wife and I were a little disappointed at the first. The movie was very slow to start and did not really get funny until the scene at the Opera House. The Bathroom scene was very funny. I'm not sure I would recommend the movie to others, but we certainly enjoyed it once it got moving. I would love to know who the lady was that was singing in the background music at the opera house. The credits were a little blurry and we could not really make out the name other than, Anna Liani. We would love to get some music by this very talented singer. Not sure if we have the name right, so if anyone knows her real name, please pass it along to us. :)

Phil Franklin Las Vegas, NV. 3/22/2000