Sparkler

This movie started off like a sweet and quirky "Sordid Lives"-esque vehicle for Park Overall, trailer trash and infidelity and other cliches. Then it switched into what the box cover promised, a no-brainer teen buddy comedy.

Then Veronica Cartwright showed up, and all bets were off.

It goes down a weird path, to be sure--are we supposed to care about the grotesques we meet in this film, or be grossed out? Or both? Is it supposed to be funny that Flint keeps yanking women's hair and harassing them (its not funny, it's creepy/mean)? Is this movie on the side of its gay characters or pointing at them in fun along with everything else?

I didn't worry too much after Veronica showed up, because from that point on all I could do was stare in awe at this amazing actress and wonder why she doesn't get more opportunities. I can't believe John Waters hasn't cast her in anything, she'd be perfect.

This movie has two of the greatest laughs I've ever had in a movie, but I'm not sure they were deliberate. One is when Veronica's dessert blows up in her face and she starts screaming,the other is when she's croaking for "Oh, Ed!" at the end. There's just something hysterical about Veronica shrieking and I don't know what it is, but I'm glad the makers of this film exploited it.

I have this movie cued to those 2 scenes and play them when I need to cheer up. My friends like it too; we say, "Sweet Jesus! My eyebrows!" to each other all the time.

Thanks for the laughs and hope to see more quirky, similar material like this soon...

Oh, and Freddy Prinze is as bad as usual (Why does he say "sh" for everything instead of "s," like "shurprise!" Just curious).

I avoided this movie for the longest time because of the video box, which prominently features Jamie Kennedy and Freddie Prinze Jr. Ugh. However, upon renting it, I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually a unexpectedly entertaining, well-written and acted indie film about a trailer trash chick who dumps her loutish husband and searches for independence. Along the way, she meets up with the before-mentioned teen hearthrobs and acts as a catalyst for their own personal growing experiences. The director imbues his material with a caustic, cynical edge which is refreshingly unique for this type of film, and thankfully prevents it from degenerating into sappy, maudlin Oprah-style "I am woman hear me roar!" melodrama. Park Overall is excellent in the title role, but the real surprise here is Veronica Cartright - who demonstrates more of the comic genius she displayed in "The Witches of Eastwick." Some of her lines had me rolling on the floor.

If you're reading this,I advise you to go out and rent this,RIGHT NOW.I cant believe this didn't win any major awards,hello,Oscars,you there?I wont tell you the plot,because many people have told it several times.But I'll tell you that this movie gets to you.At first you don't think it'll be anything,but it sneaks up on you!It's just sad that it's so unheard of.This movie is so good,guys.Go see it.

And if you don't like the actors,you should kick yourself right now,because they are all of AMAZING talent.I wish people would stop underrating FPJ.He's really an ABOVE AVERAGE actor,and it makes me sad that people don't see it.People probably think that because of some of his other roles(which any actor would appear bad in).But,he's genuinely a very good actor.

And no one takes Jamie Kennedy seriously either,yet,he too actually has TALENT.Please,rent this and watch all of these actors with an opportunity to spread their wings.They're all wonderful.This movie is very touching.Rent it.Now.

From Darren Stein- who would direct 'Jawbreaker' a year later- comes an odd and likable little movie called 'Sparkler'. Young Mr. Stein has a distinct style, although he has yet to make a truly good movie. He doesn't seem quite capable of pulling together an entire, cohesive film, but both of his movies thus far bear his slightly weird and skewed surrealism. The title refers to the film's main character, Melba May, a middle-aged trailer park princess with dreams of getting out and a husband who nails any and every woman he can get to lie down. She stumbled across three young men at a run-down bar. They are on their way to Vegas to raise rent money. One is Trent, a pie-in-the-sky innocent capable of admiring Melba May's seedy, self-delusional glamour. He is the one who nicknames her Sparkler, and Jamie Kennedy is so cute and lovable in his quirky way that it's impossible not to like him. The other two are more cynical- Joel, dealing with his repressed homosexuality, and Brad, (played by Freddie Prinze Jr. in his only standout performance besides the one he gave in 'The House of Yes') a boy trying to be a Hollywood agent so frightened by life that he has to hide behind bluster and sneers. A lost earring and Brad's business card sends Melba May after them. She wins them their rent money, tracks down her showgirl friend Dottie, and is relentlessly persued by her trailer-trash husband because, unbeknownst to her, she's won a million dollars in the sweepstakes. This is a movie that is probably best characterized as a black comedy, as it deals quite frankly with several unsavory and potentially offensive topics but does so with a sense of humor. It has an odd brand of charm, but it's charm all the same.

"Sparkler" is a shoe string indie shot in Vegas which throws a bunch of characters from a low life trucker and his wife to a three young broke guys from L.A. to a stripper to a drag queen, etc. into the plot and then struggles for coherence. Buried in this mess of nonsense is a somewhat sentimental story trying to get out. Unfortunately, the real story, which Overall (the title character) almost brings to life, is buried so deep in a lame production that's for most it will never be realized. It took a lot of patience to sit through this film and in the final analysis the liabilities outweighed the assets.