Rubin and Ed

This is a must for a Crispin Glover fan. I have no idea why it is difficult to find. It is a gem. Great story and very funny. If you don't think it's funny then you must not get it. You know; one of those. My review did not contain 10 lines of text so I must add more. I really really think you should see this movie. Dahhhhhhhh. It is still not long enough. What a stupid requirement that IMDb has. Why? Okay, I will type more meaningless praddle. are you happy now>? No? Still not enough. They want more and more and more. Okay, this is really great! Thanks for listineing Please show your appreciation at the offering plate. Gem stone

imagine a young lad stumbling upon the 99 cent bin in the local video store. a movie that he had never heard of, starring crispin glover, catches his eye. "this looks pretty crappy" he thinks to himself, "but if it stars crispin glover, i suppose i could shell out a buck". the transaction was finalized and the goods were brought home. no one was around to revel in the movie that is rubin and ed, but there was never a need. the movie turned into one of the lad's favorites and he could be heard commenting "dr. scholl's never tasted so good!!!" now even his friends and brothers and brothers of friends can be heard shouting "my cat can eat a whole watermelon" and "why don't you keep your hands off of other people's ?!?" trent harris, i thank you for that young lad, was in fact, emmanuel lewis.

This movie is a story of two failures who get thrown into each other's worlds for one of the most bizarre journeys ever captured on film. As an avid lover of truly weird films, I find Rubin and Ed to be an irresistible comedy.

Crispin Glover is, as always, wonderful. He portrays Rubin, a social outcast and complete shut-in who's forced to go out into the world to prove to his mother that he is making friends, so she'll give him back his stereo.

He comes across Ed (Hessman), who is a "fraud failure" trying his hand as a member of "the organization," which is portrayed as some sort of real estate cult. The two wind up traveling into the Utah West Desert to bury Rubin's recently murdered cat, and come to hate each other entirely as they become the most unlikely pair of friends.

This movie is not for everyone, and indeed it is not easy to find even in Utah (where it is set, and from whence director Trent Harris hails). Rubin and Ed is a remarkably strange and offbeat film. It's the epitome of a cult classic, and as such will inevitably leave you thinking, "huh?" However, if you're tired of Hollywood's sanitized story lines and obvious repetition, I highly recommend trying to find a copy of this movie.

Now and then, despite any reservations your brain might have, a movie gotcha. Sometimes you have to see it a dozen times first. Then various lines start to spring from your mouth and you can't and don't want to stop. It doesn't make any sense: the movie is *different* (like pet iguanas and Carmen Ghias), which isn't bad, and trivial (like Who was the Head of the Class? Who shoveled the coal on The Dead Man's train?), and just plain stupid (like Andy Warhol's art, or land so radioactive it'll kill you in 30 seconds, or expensive real estate seminars).

But Oh Lord! for some reason you're tickled pink to see it... every time, you're happy as a clam and pleased as punch. Never mind that when you watch it, everyone thinks you're a fraud failure. Never mind that your cat-loving friends find it repulsive. Why are some people compelled to reinact The Rocky Horror over and over? Why why why why why you may echo?

This movie is "cooler" than some. Cooler movies ask hard stuff, like Who Am I? Who was Mahler? Who was Dr. Scholl, anyways? Drink deep. And remember to be at Room 71 at 6 o'clock, if you want to climb higher and higher.

Rubin & Ed is an odd movie. It's a funny movie. There are one-liners in this flick that my friends and I still use to this day ("How do we make money!?" "Work?" "NO!!! REAL ESTATE!!!"). Is it a movie for everyone? Definitely not.

For starters, it's not a movie that many people would call "good" or "funny". You have to have a specific sense of humor to find this movie entertaining. I can easily see how some would think this movie was terrible, or at the very least bewildering.

In the end, this is nothing more than a "buddy movie". The only reason it works (for some) is the interplay between Rubin (Glover) and Ed (Hesseman). Rubin is, quite simply, a complete odd-ball. Ed is the quintessential middle-aged dork trying desperately to be something more than he really is.

The plot, if you could call it that, centers around Rubin attempting to find a suitable place to bury his dead cat, and Ed's pathetic attempts to win his ex-wife back (sort of). All of this is strung together with the strange conversations and "adventures" the two manage to get in.

In closing, if you're a person who enjoys "odd-ball" comedies, this movie is definitely worth a viewing.

I gave it 8/10