Employee of the Month

David Walsh (Matt Dillon) is a banking officer, who's life seems to go terribly wrong when his job review sandbags him and instead of being made employee of the month, he's fired. To make matters worst after work his fiancée, Sara Goodwin (Christina Applegate) confronts him with his infidelity, ends their relationship and tosses him out on the street. How could things get any worse (or better)? His friend Jack seems to think things are finally moving in the right direction, all David needs now is a night of drinking, a handgun, and he'll be ready for some payback, unless a bank robbery interferes with his plans.

The acting is very good, and in some scenes great, with Steve Zahn (Jack) stealing most of the scenes he's in. Peter Jason is also outstanding as Mr. Gartin the tough Bank VP. The humour is very black, and the dialog well written. From the opening scene and repeatedly during the film, the idea that life is an illusion is mentioned. But it's not until several unforeseen plot twists later that the viewer realizes that two separate plots have been simultaneously unfolding, or maybe not.

If you like any of the cast, dark humour, good acting, a plot with twists and turns, then this is a little gem you should try out.

Sunday night I was at a friends house playing cards, he popped in a movie he rented, none of us had ever heard of it, he said he got it because on the box it mentioned something about being 'from the producers of Strangers with Candy' & we're all fans of that darkly-odd kind of humor. It was kinda funny, in-fact really funny in some parts. I read that one reviewer here was 'dissapointed' but I think that's because he was told (ie: expecting) it to be more like 'Office Space'. I wouldn't compare it to that, except that it's about a guy who just stops caring about his job & his life starts to unravel. To me it was more like 'Saving Silverman' or 'One night at Mcools', but it was allowed to be a bit more 'Suicide Kings'-like in its gritty darkness mixed with humor. ( Some people don't like it when a movie makes a sharp-cut from surreal & silly humor to dark & gritty violence in the span of a few beats, but I think its fine, I *like that* I think it keeps the viewer's attention when it takes quick unexpected turns like that, but thats just me.) The only person from Strangers with Candy that I recognized was Stu ( the guy who has a beef ) but aside from wanting to see more SWC cast or writers, I enjoyed it & will rent it again and show it to others who like that kind of cynical-humor.

Matt Dillion was great in this, as he was in 'drugstore cowboy' 'mcools' & 'to die for'...his voice-over narration really set the tone for the whole story that was being told.

What a surprise! I can't figure out why I had not heard or read anything about this movie when it came out, because it was great. The whole thing was completely unexpected and had a sense of humor about itself, almost being a kind of self-parody. The characters were well fleshed out and the story took such surprising and hilarious turns. This is a movie I could watch many times and will definitely recommend it to friends. I won't say anything about the plot because part of the reason its so much fun is because its so unexpected. But instead of resorting to cheap unnecessary plot contrivances for the twists and turns(like Fight Club, for example!), it actually does have continuity, and we get the joke. Its just too bad this film didn't get more attention and advertising!

Beyond that point, it's Wild Things.

This is a fantastic flick with incredible acting on all fronts. . .for the first hour and 28 minutes. Beyond that, it's an all-out race to the bottom. From a tale of a man breaking down in the style of Falling Down - with an acting prowess nearly equal to that of Michael Douglas - it becomes a tale of who can screw who the most. Within the span of three minutes, these characters change themselves from tortured souls dealing with life's unfairness into caricatures of every gang-crime movie that had the bad sense to be put on film. Either the writer for the first ninety five percent of the film was fired, or suffered a psychotic breakdown. We placed this movie on our Netflix queue by mistake (meant to request the more recent Dane Cook flick - never you mind what that says about our cinematic tastes) and were pleasantly surprised. . .right up until the end.

I found this movie to be very watchable and entertaining, but certainly wouldn't bill it as a comedy, and I don't think that's how it was intended. Parts are mildly amusing, but there's more suspense and drama than anything else.

The ending contains some twists and turns that you probably won't see coming, but won't be completely surprised at either. Don't immediately turn it off at what you believe to be the end, or you'll miss some of the missing pieces.

Some users have commented about the level of violence in this film, but I can't recall any particularly gruesome scenes. Perhaps I've been conditioned by the likes of films such as "Irreversible" and "Goodfellas".

Anyway, I think you'll find this a worthwhile rental. If not, please blame one of the other positive reviews, as I have a very delicate psyche.

Bill