A Little Help

I don't know exactly how to put this into words but what appeared to be a nice drama movie in the beginning turned out to be an average boring movie till the end. Overall the movie presented a psychic storyline with a disturbed girl finding her way out of her husbands death. Coming to the acting, one can say that most of the characters did justice to what they were put through. I am a kind of person who usually don't miss a single scene of movies, even I also had to skip a few parts at the end. Direction was not very good because the movie actually fail to leave some mark in your mind and it is a kind of movie that you won't even remember its name after a week or so.

This indie dramedy casts cutie-pie Jenna Fischer (of TV's "The Office") as Laura, a woman suffering from a variety of problems—dead-end marriage, unappreciative son, bitchy sister, condescending mom—that no amount of beer and cigarettes can make go away. Then things take a turn for the worse. The movie is about how lies infect the soul—how they grow, like a cancer, and end up spoiling life. There are impressive turns by Ron Liebman and Lesley Ann Warren as Laura's parents, and Kim Coates as a calculating attorney—the embodiment of Satanic dishonesty, he might as well have been carrying a trident. "A Little Help" may not wind up in a lot of the year's Top 10 lists, but I found myself caring about the characters, warts and all. (For once, Fischer is photographed in a way that is not particularly attractive). A winning effort by first-time feature writer/director Michael J. Weithorn.

My wife and I very much enjoyed this unpretentious film at the San Jose Cinequest Film Festival. It certainly blends comedy and drama very well, and the story line flows very smoothly. Well-delivered humor kept the audience laughing evenly throughout the story, which complimented the more somber and poignant moments. The actors, many of whom are recognizable from television and the big screen all added to the believability of the story. While I sat there and thought "I am glad this is not my family's story," I, nevertheless, could relate and was drawn to the characters and their trials. There was a certain sweetness about this story that made Laura's (Jenna Fischer) life ultimately redeeming, and ultimately a pleasant surprise to this reviewer.

I have no idea how this film can be rated anything above 2/10. The film is utterly pointless in every facet. Every frame is annoying.

I am a fan of the TV show "The Office", but I find Jenna Fisher's character in that show annoying. I guess playing annoying characters is her talent, because her character in this film is incredibly annoying throughout the film. It's hard to expand on that without including spoilers (not that anything could "spoil" this film more than the awful script already does); and I hate reviews with spoilers.

As I said, this film is pointless. Nothing is resolved. The main character (Fishcher) is an idiot who learns nothing and grows not one iota. Her son is a liar and an idiot who changes not one iota. She has problems; her son has problems; her sister and brother-in-law have problems; her nephew has problems, and on and on... None of these things are resolved. No point is made. The main character "grows" some reviewers claim? Did we watch the same movie? Fisher's character does one aggravatingly-stupid thing after another; me and my wife kept saying "Why would she do that?" This movie is a pointless, poorly-acted crapfest.

I watched this movie after first coming across it on IMDb and reading stellar reviews describing it as a "dramedy". Unfortunately, I found the beginning slow and drawn out to the point of boredom. I had a difficult time caring about any of the characters or what would happen to them. I actually fell asleep and had to rewind in my quest to find the point where it would improve. I did not find this movie interesting or funny and some scenes were actually distasteful. I thought the characters annoying and unlikeable. Some reviewers commented that this movie was great because it was true to life; not every situation ends up tied up in pretty bows and perfect endings, etc. Sure, that's true. BUT, that does not mean I should be satisfied watching characters without redeeming qualities who do not develop in a movie with a flat ending. If I'm going to invest 108 minutes in a movie my lowest expectation is to care about what happens to the characters. It's interesting to read such different reviews about the same movie. In this case, since some people loved it I would suggest watching it yourself if the storyline interests you and then post a review here.