Antiquities

What I liked the most about Antiquities was the subtle humor, nothing really hilarious but good enough to make me giggle more then once. It's all a bit quirky and the people are a bit strange. Every character adds something special to the story. A story that is quite simple but certainly effective as I never felt bored. It's all easy entertainment and that's perfect to me. The cast was well chosen to play all those strange characters, some were funnier than others, but in the end they all did a good job. I don't think alot of people will hate this movie, maybe those who have no sense of humor at all.

This movie reminds me of a Garrison Keillor skit from the Prairie Home Companion radio show. Great twists in the dialogue, humorous witty story telling designed to engage viewers in an immersive trip to odd likable characters working through their lives. I laughed many times at the writers intentionally landed jokes mocking Hallmark movies and so many direct homages to the Carol Burnett Show along with the whole radio era story telling that never once apologized for being a movie on the 21st century. I got it from the very first scene where they were going with this film and they totally got it right! Excellent job at speaking to the thousands of writers, radio shows and decades of creative entertainment that preceded the film industry. I send hugs out for this entire effort well done, well portrayed, and expert cinematic story telling.

Walt Prior (Andrew J. West) returns to his home town after his father's death. He gets a job at the antiques store where his father used to work. It's filled with a cast of quirky southern characters including the beautiful Ellie (Ashley Greene). He goes see therapist Dr. Margot (Mary Steenburgen).

At seven minutes in, Dolores flashes her titties at Walt and it's obvious that this movie is filled with wacky southern characters... except for Walt. Even the parrot has to be wacky while Walt is one of the blandest character by comparison. It doesn't help that West has no big screen personality. The juxtaposition is tiresome although the arrogant Japanese cook and stripper are hilarious. The writing is funnier in some doses. In larger doses, the script is trying too hard. Also the plot needs a point. Walt needs a goal. Without one, the movie meanders. I guess Ellie becomes the goal. The car crash is the central point. The movie needs to start with the car crash. It needs to make that more central. Instead, this is basically a troupe of improvisers doing wacky things with a shocking unprepared reveal in the third act. This is missing the intro. Even crashing two cars in the intro would be so helpful in this movie.

Watching this movie is like being inserted into the middle of a psychiatric ward 1 hour after meds have been handed out! Transparent effort at trying to create bon homie among a disparate group of oddballs in small town America. Each character was given a 300 square foot stage to perform whatever character they wanted for 90 mins. You could tell they were "acting" as nowhere in this world would anybody ever come across this group of mentally unstable people. Each actor tried way too hard at being effortless in their craziness, too much going on. This type of movie has been done before with much more grace and real humanity.

The heart of this film is the writing. The cinematography is stunning. The film follows a romantic comedy formula but the characters make it an engaging experience.