Phoenix, Oregon

Loved this film, a little sweet snapshot of how droll the midlife grind can be when you don't have the life you thought you'd have. Great understated performance from James LeGros as Bobby, and the full cast of his friends & associates offer plenty of dramatic layers for his character to engage with. Jesse Borego as Carlos is a breath of fresh air to Bobby's downer moments & his passion for his craft is infectious. I appreciated the fumbled semi romantic thread between Bobby and Tanya too as too often in movies it's all packaged up so neatly the viewer is deprived of seeing the truth when it comes to 'just not the right time' connections. Oh and have to mention Kevin Corrigan's Al, nicely positioned in both character and storyline as Bobby's polar opposite nemesis. Highly recommend but one negative is I almost passed this by thanks to the insipid title. I get the 'Phoenix' connection in the storyline but come on, something a little more thoughtful would be cherry on the top.

I don't know what y'all were watching, and the less-than-inspired tag line accompanying this doesn't begin to do it justice. Engaging true-to-life characters, plot and dialogue keeping movie clichés at more than arms length while sharing a quotidian tale of Everyman, doing our collective best, beaten, coming back. This is an excellent movie that thankfully I saw before I saw the reviews - as I often let the score determine if it's time worthy, a habit to readily reassess. Excellent movie. Worth the time and payoffs days later.

Phoenix, Oregon is a terrific independent film. I loved the performances by James Le Gros and Jesse Borrego, the writing, and the heart that this film has. I do think the production design was a little weak but it didn't hurt the story. The film is really strengthened by its uniqueness. Other films do focus on common folk in small towns (e.g. the Brinson family in Wildlife) but what director/writer Gary Lundgren does so well is that he makes the audience care about Bobby, the main character. He writes and directs the actor well; Le Gros depicts a middle-aged American really well. I do recommend checking this film out.

This film is great watch if you're in a chill mood. It is relaxing, pleasantly funny and has some interesting writing and subject matter. The pacing can be a little uneven, but once it gets going it's engrossing. The cast give great performances and fit their characters very well and the story has some great moments that build on those characters. Good fun for a light evenings entertainment.

The good: decent acting performances. A story, however uneventful, that still has nice likeable characters and true to life dialogues.

Photography and sound are good.

The bad: this movie is definitely lacking spark. It's quite difficult to stay involved, because not much is happening. Now you must know that the leading character's life in the movie is stuck as well. So it isnt surprising that this is a slowburning uneventful story as well. Still some pepper and salt is needed dearly, to keep this movie more interesting.

Probably best suited for a patient art house audience.