God, Sex & Apple Pie

What can I say? An amateur try at remaking the Big Chill. They didn't pull it off. No original plot, bad acting, bad directing, bad writing. There is no way I would recommend it to anyone. I am surprised I made it through the whole thing.

It's not a bad movie, but there's nothing really engrossing about it.

Made in 1998, but it has a feel of a late 80s, early 90s movie, and maybe it's more of a movie for the generation before mine.

A few long and somewhat unnecessary montages take away from the story, and the individual character problems seemed to be wrapped up a bit too neatly at the end.

For me it just felt a bit lacking, in either story or in comedy. And a few scenes where you can hear the characters giving speeches about the writer/director's view on society, which is way too common in the independent film world.

The most disappointing thing is that is really just one step away from being something special. Maybe the script just needed one more rewrite.

You can't go wrong with God. You can't go wrong with sex. You most certainly can't go wrong with apple pie. And the film (unlike many film festival screenings I've seen) lives up to the title. A weekend reunion forces childhood friends (now turning thirty) to examine the paths they have chosen. Beautifully shot, a monster twist and surprisingly well acted. No names, just talent. Keep your eye on the guitar player and the mailman. I liked them a whole lot. God, Sex & Apple Pie, with or without a scoop of vanilla, is a

Great story, but poor acting or directing (and possibly both) left me feeling somewhat disappointed. While I still enjoyed the film, I just felt delivery of the lines was too stiff and looked at times forced. The cast was very likable, but I attribute that to the writer and not their performances. I would love to see this movie made with a better cast and/or director.

As I was watching this movie, I kept thinking of how David Spade would review it. I think he would say, "I liked this movie the first time I saw it...when it was called 'Return of the Secaucus 7'." I think he would then have said, "Oh yeah, I also liked this movie the 2nd time I saw it...when it was called 'The Big Chill'." Think of this movie like a copy of a copy of an original...sort of indistinct and hard to read. Add a little pretension and you have an ugly movie. 2/10.