The Size of Watermelons

This movie has become quite hard to find lately, but if you do find it (most likely on a region 4 DVD... Australians seem to be the only ones who still care for it) then it is definitely worth watching. I majored in art and lived on the Venice beachfront for a while when I was younger, and I feel this movie captures the atmosphere of my early 20s. The plot itself is nothing to write home about, but the good performances, quirky live music and the very 90s feeling of it all more than make up for it. Also, Paul Rudd's cuteness and adorableness is at a high here.

I originally saw 'The Size of Watermelons' back in the late 90's when it hit VHS to date myself. I was a big fan of the 'Halloween' series at the time and Paul Rudd had appeared in the sixth entry in '95 which had something to do with seeing this. I remember thinking this movie was hilarious. I still appreciate its charm all these years later, but question what my younger self found so funny.

I think back then I found the characters zany and off-the-wall. I had no basis to understand them. To me the whole proceedings were some crazy not-real-life acid trip of a comedy. The fact of the matter is this movie perfectly captures a certain subset of young people at a standstill in the 90's. It just took me being older to recognize it. No focus, no deep drive. Wasting time. Failed relationships. Attending film school or playing music. Too much beer, too much coffee. Getting lost in fantasies about being in the biz, reading Variety, but not doing anything to make it happen.

Paul Rudd & Donal Logue give dialed in performances. Alex (Rudd) meanders around with his "bad haircut" and a fondness for getting beat up. Gnome (Logue) who's a big talker bordering on obnoxious with a fractured type of charisma and balls "the size of watermelons". They follow each other around. Talk about doing an alternative B&W political documentary about Gnome and his views on the illegal annexation of Hawaii.

By the end none of it matters. Things fall apart and you move on. You grow up. That's life. A decent throwback movie that's not for everyone, but I enjoyed it then & now. Recommended for fans of Rudd & Logue.

There are two great features of this movie: it's yet another great nihilistic slacker movie, this time about a pathetic no-nothing loser who is trying to make his first movie (one can only hope this is not self-referential). It also has a great title. When I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival, it attracted a mixed crowd: those who had read the reviews and those who hadn't. The latter wore trench coats and left after the first five minutes.

Watermelons demonstrates what can be achieved with low budget films. First class writing and acting performances aside, the universality of the theme is this film's strongest point. The universal man, somewhat naive to the world, somewhat dumb, somewhat torn by his own base desires in opposition to his intellectual growth, never-the-less holds to a dream. Although not tantalizingly close, the dream to make a filmic masterpiece IS tantalizing, and is the mountain he must climb despite distractions from within and without. That such a large theme is contained within a very average world and provides such deft entertainment speaks volumes for the abilities of writer, cast and crew.

I have sampled and loved this movie for a long time. There is an understated elegance to the comedy.