Dallas 362

...not quite the film that it aspires to be.

First of all, the cast is impressive, but too often they are underfed by the drawn-out story.

The performances are all solid, and Caan succeeds in getting you to be invested in caring about the characters.

However, the story is too thin and the attempts at humor really don't land. The previous poster is correct in that the second half of the film drags, and nothing that happens to the characters will come as a surprise to anyone.

There are clear elements in the story which will remind you of "Good Will Hunting" and "The Slaughter Rule", but the characters and actors all carve out their individual idnetities.

I was a bit surprised by the DVD interviews with the cast where they all talked about what a great script it was and how excited they were to do it.

The greatness that these established actors refer to doesn't show up in the final cut.

Having said that, I have to admire Scott Caan's ambition and belief in his work, which is quite evident. But to write, direct and act in your first film is an enormous undertaking and one that very few people outside of Woody Allen could expect to pull off. Yet, "Dallas 362" has strong elements of Caan's directorial talent on display, which I'm sure that he will continue to develop and expand upon.

Scott Caan's directorial debut gives us a film that surprises because of the talent he shows and the intelligence it projects. Mr. Caan shows a strong resemblance to his father and he surely makes him proud in his first job behind the camera. This young actor, turned director, seems to be on the right path for bigger and better things.

Mr. Caan was able to attract an interesting cast that obviously loved this project as their performances clearly demonstrate on the screen. Shawn Hatosy, who plays Rusty, is an intense young actor who doesn't repeat himself in any of the films in which he plays. In fact, his inter action with Mr. Caan's Dallas, pays off in a good way. The two of them make an excellent combination.

Others in the cast include a wonderful Jeff Goldblum, as the therapist who is seeing Rusty's mother. Kelly Lynch makes another good appearance. Bob Gunton, Selma Blair, and the rest of the supporting cast do wonders under Mr. Caan's direction.

We look forward to a long career for Scott Caan. He deserves it.

I had the pleasure to see this film at the Toronto Film festival and this was defiantly one of the better screening. I'm not going to give away any of the plot cause you should go see it yourself (if it ever gets picked up). Scott Cann was there to promote the film as was Val Lauren. Although the plot isn't brand new, it's the dialogue and the characters that carry this film. Early on the film establishes the story and really let the actors become their character. Jeff Goldblum's character was my favorite (nice to see him in a non-creepy role) he seems somewhat normal in this film. The dialogue between the two main characters are gut bustlingly funny at times and heart breaking during others.

Scott admitted to the audience after screening that he might not get a US distribution, which is a real shame. Hollywood in the past 15 years of so have rarely put out a film that challenge the mind and makes the audience appreciate the art of film. This film definitely brings some of that art back. It's not perfect (The plot does drag a bit towards the middle) but it's worth the time to see the performance and writing by Scott Cann

Was in 'Vegas for fun at the Palms hotel - caught the CineVegas festival while I was there. Saw a bunch of interesting films which already have distribution, this one and THE ROAD HOME, were the two I saw that did not.

Interesting movie which I heard was the first film written and directed by Scott Caan. He did a good job and I really enjoyed the build up of the first half, but then the film kind of slowed down and lost some of my interest. I didn't get into the characters as much as I wanted to, but I did enjoy the performances especially of Jeff Goldblum.

Overall a decent little film.

In Scott Caan's first feature, Dallas 362, you can see the same thing as was seen in his first play ('Almost Love'), the raw elements of a budding talent. Caan, son of actor James Caan, wrote and directed the deceptively simple buddy movie and in which he also stars along with Shawn Hatosy, Jeff Goldblum, and Kelly Lynch. The film, shot on a low budget on Locations in LA, manages to create a world of its own, and one in which you finally care about these flawed characters, and without falling into any of a number of possible clichés of this kind of filmmaking.

The film follows two close friends, Rusty (played by Hatosy) and Dallas (Caan), who call themselves `brothers' and are constantly becoming involved in bar fights, repeatedly being bailed out of jail by Rusty's mother, played by Kelly Lynch. Rusty wants to grow up but can't seem to break out of this pattern. Goldblum plays the mother's boyfriend who is a therapist and begins seeing Rusty as a favor to his mother. The obvious complications of this triangle come out early and are resolved in a very honest and truthful manner, and Goldblum gives a surprisingly fresh and satisfying performance.

The relationship of the friends is obvious from the beginning, and the fact that you see the problems coming makes them no less compelling. In fact, Caan has succeeded in something that is really quite difficult. As Dallas begins to dabble in ideas of larger crimes, we see coming the time when guns will come out (and they do), but even as it all happens he manages to keep the focus on the characters and not on the action. We care about what will happen to these flawed characters. This is a real strength of this film.

In fact, all of the performances are good here (including a nice turn by Val Lauren). And the film has the great virtue that it is evenly paced and not overly long. Caan manages the tricky task of working on both sides of the camera well, although this is definitely more a movie of characters and performances rather than a cinematic vision. The photography is effective for the story and shows some of the budget constraints, but it also does not call attention to itself. Undoubtedly Caan will develop as a director over time, but this is a very respectable first effort.