Kicked in the Head

"Kicked in the Head" is all about the Corrigan character, a twenty something man on a quest to find himself, and his involvements with a handful of quirky characters. This thin and ambiguous story, which was written by Corrigan, has a make-it-up-as-you-go feel and a screenplay which smells like an uninspired low budget indie. In spite of that and some annoying Hindenburg scene interjections, the film has an off beat, quirky kind of charm which may appeal, in some small way, to people with a similar sense of humor. Not for everyone, not for most, but maybe fun for some. (D+)

Matthew Harrison and Kevin Corrigan have come up a quirky movie in which there are a lot of ideas. Some of them come across and others fail, but the film is worth a look because it has good performances. The first half of the movie has excellent pacing, as it moves quickly with all that's going on.

Michael Rapaport makes an excellent appearance as Stretch. This is an actor that always delivers. He is always effective in whatever he plays. Kevin Corrigan's Redmond shows enough confusion as he moves through the different situations. It's not his best role, but having an interest in the film, since he co-wrote the screen play, might have had a toll on him. Linda Fiorentino, Lily Taylor, James Woods and Burt Young make great contributions in an assortment of New York characters.

One of the funniest scenes is at the beginning of the movie when Uncle Sam steals the car and tries to get rid of the dog he finds inside. The shooting scenes are amazing because no one is shot, even at close range. Don't ever show this film to Quentin Tarantino, as he will probably have a panic attack!

Despite a great soundtrack and the presence of the ever amazing Rappaport and Woods, this is another one of those moronic comedies where New York throws itself at the hero in an effort by the writer and/or director to show what a zany place it is. Yeah there's some other stuff in the movie that sucks too, but that's what's important. The trend for New York independent filmmakers seems to be "I don't need to be talented, I have NEW YORK!" Okay, to be fair, the movie has its moments. The flashback bit about why the one guy is called Wacky Jack was pretty amusing. The script isn't a story or a plot, it's a bunch of not-good scenes tied to each other by featuring the same character.

One of the worst things is that there's no motive behind what the characters do. Uncle Sam has the kid deliver the drugs, why? If its so important why didn't Sam do it himself? Then the lead character lies his ass off in scene after scene with absolutely nothing to gain from lying. The guy falls in love with a flight attendant with neither of them having any reason to fall in love. The characters are a bunch of pawns for the writer to move around to see if he can get anything zany to happen.

If you're easily amused or like watching bad indie movies because they make you feel smarter than watching bad mainstream movies, watch this. If you want to see what a GOOD light hearted crime movie looks like, watch Takeshi Kitano's "Brother". "Kicked In The Head" is the perfect example of why so many people hate offbeat indie movies: A LOT OF THEM SUCK. And a note to the director: Don't be afraid to excite, amuse, enlighten or entertain the audience now and then. Being boring doesn't make you a better filmmaker than the ones who can interest me.

The movie start out introducing a boy who is lost ( in search of "the purpose" ). We get to join him for a few days of his life, telling us that life ain`t always the brightest thing to deal with. The movie deserves some credit for not following the mainstream, and Michael Rapaport does his best role for so far. James Woods is quite good as a jerk, the dog is better though. I´m happy that I´ve watched this one, and I recommend you to do the same.

This is really an underrated film. There is great acting and character development, especially by Michael Rapaport who plays the main character's strange but lucky friend "Stretch". The LEAST interesting character is probably actually the main character, Redmond, who seems to just wander through life and let things happen to him. But this is what makes the movie interesting; around Redmond's world revolves many strange and unique people. Coincidence and symbolism play a large part in Redmond's world too, which provides comedy in the most serious situations. A lot of this movie seems taken from Pulp Fiction, from the guy who doesn't get shot to the guys sitting around a table talking about classic movies (as opposed to Madonna songs in pulp). I also found the ending unfulfilling. Otherwise, a strange but interesting movie that I recommend.