iMordecai

Saw this as a preview in Boca Raton, FL on Nov 14, 2022.

The director made some very charming opening remarks, telling the story of how the film came to be, customer service at Cinemark was top quality with free popcorn and bottled water.

Then the movie began....

Judd Hirsch and Carol Kane need to tone down those accents as they were caricatured to the point of sometimes being unintelligible. At some point realism has to be sacrificed for the sake of the making the movie understandable. Hirsch's character also does some stuff that so contradicts what is established like leaving his wife alone for hours after he preaches the whole movie about his irresponsible son.

Some admittedly funny stuff was buried in an avalanche of sub-plots and other threads that went nowhere. (100 year old lady reminding us of Holocaust, a character with a shady past, fixing a broken shower, the put-upon next door neighbor, etc.) I assume they were supposed to be part of a larger statement but the director and editor just couldn't juggle these into a coherent whole and what should have been a simple, charming story bogs down in sit-com level dramatics and feel-good moments.

Except for Sean Astin (gained a lot of weight looking terrible in shirts that are too tight for his frame and an awful hairpiece) the acting is very amateurish: Stephanie J Block (Broadway star) is so flat and bored in her delivery you'd think she couldn't wait for her paycheck so she could leave, the young lady playing the leading role of Nina is so inexperienced she looks terrified in every scene.

The writer/director made it clear it was his first movie having had absolutely no experience in either shorts films or television...and it shows.

Streamed this and watched with my family. Great flick. Uplifting, realistic, and yell at the screen funny! It didn't shy away from horrible history of mankind while presenting a heartwarming picture of how real people might deal with life as survivors, and their families. I've worked in a steal foundry, on drill rigs, and river dredges. At 51 years old men aren't supposed to cry. But this film had me laughing and "tearing up" all through it, from start to finish. Loved it ! I will be purchasing this movie and rewatching it the rest of my life. It's now on a list of less than 50 I'll ever view more than once. More Jud Hirsh !

I went to see iMordecai with my parents who are in their 70's. We all laughed, teared up at times and related to the movie and its characters in different ways. The cast was very impressive. Judd Hirsch and Carol Kane have always been a dynamic duo. Sean Asten is incredibly talented and the actress that played Nina has tremendous potential.

Marvin Samel who wrote, produced and directed this film, based on a personal story, made opening remarks before the film started. He is incredibly likable, and his passion for telling his father's story is moving.

Overall, I think that this is a film that most anyone can relate to a subset of the characters, it's a feel good story, and it's a good choice to watch with your parents (or kids).

The film opens with a unique animation of the upbringing of Mortecai and moves into the story of a relationship with his family. I really appreciated the methods utilized to tell a story that could have been a heavy theme, but was produced in a fairly light-hearted and comical way. It was refreshing, funny and had many touching moments. The story turns when Mordecai found that technology can open up a world that someone with his personality would create the antics of maybe a teenager finding a hotrod with the keys left in it...Too funny. The acting was fantastic. I thought Carol Kane's (Fela) jealous reaction to Mordecai talking to his iphone (siri) was just spot on for example. It was also fun to see Sean Astin step outside of his previous roles and become a family man and cigar company owner. Absolutely a joy to witness.

I laughed and cried in the best of ways! Hollywood should take a page from Independent movies because indies have more passion in each frame than most other studio productions do in an entire franchise. Saw this at Saint Augustine Film Festival with my parents and everyone loved it! We were supposed to see something with Peter Dinklage in it but this was a very welcomed surprise. Made me think about my family a lot.

Not a lot of stories like these out there. This touches on a beautiful theme that it is never too late to find inspiration all while enjoying the shenanigans of Mordicai. Fantastic storytelling. Great Performances from Judd and Carol as the root of the movie. Lots of heartwarming moments.

P.s the editor for this worked on BIRDMAN??! No wonder it looked so good. Looks like A24 might have some competition if these film makers continue working together. Would love to see more work from these talented people.