Bongwater

Saw this at the Temecula Valley Film Festival last week. One of the best ones there. Luke Wilson is great, Alicia Witt is *tops*. Looking for more of her as soon as possible. I know someone exactly like the character she plays here. Very funny, very cool movie.

I liked it, it was really off the wall, many very funny scenes, and wonderful dialogue throughout. Maybe it's just because I used to love a red headed trouble loving woman, this was a fun movie. No one got killed, only one short scene that involved any violence. Not as good as High Fidelity, not as weird as Clerks, but way better than usual.

I read many of the other review before adding my comments, so the net result may be a review of the reviews more than commentary on the movie itself. What a twisted, postmodern web I weave, huh?

The first point I would like to address is criticism of the plot - sure it meanders a bit, but it seems more cohesive and lucid than the lives of the stoners this movie illustrates. Also, there is a pretty clear parallel between the stoner sensibilities of the characters and the way the movie was directed. Without giving too much away, I can say that the movie is about inertia. And sometimes the movie is similarly inert. To me this does not challege the the viewer's imagination too much.

There are far more challenging movies out there, even in the same genre (if there is in fact a stoner/slacker genre) - well, Slackers is a good example. It has virtually no plot, no Jack Black comedy payoff, and yet it is a good film. Bongwater, although it does not rely on the same devices, is a good film for the same reasons.

The writing seems to be perfectly good. But there is no accounting for taste. It was not sublime, but neither was it conspicuously bad. I think the characters are rendered well too. Even the smaller parts played by Andy Dick and Jeremy Sisto have a proper amount of complexity to them.

I'll sum up by saying that I think the disappointment I have read here is a reflection of expectations of the movie and the movie not aligning to some viewers' satisfaction. So if you have not read the book, or you have not seen the trailers, and you don't have unrealistically high expectations hot chicks in daisy dukes, prepare to be amused. Excepting most of the scenes Brittany Murphy is in.

I give it a solid B+

I saw a screening of this film in its uncut version 3 months ago... (I intern at the company that aquired it and is going to distribute it.) It has some great *realistic* caricatures of potheads and all other sorts of drug users and such... Luke Wilson is okay, but his subtlety doesn't quite work here. The story is as meandering as its subject matter, much like the finer, non-Hollywood stoner films. Amy Locane is pretty good, (why didn't her career ever fly?) Other cast are frighteningly familiar caricatures of neo-hippy-ites. Final cut will probably be better than what I saw, as I hear that many long, boring segments are being cut from the film. People in on the scene, or stoned at the time, will enjoy the film a lot. Doesn't, however, have mass-audience appeal at all.

When the opening credits began to roll for "Bong Water," I was beside myself with glee. Luke Wilson? Jeremy Sisto? Andy Dick? It's too good to be true, I thought. I was right. This movie is a complete waste of time, not only for viewers, but for those who actually participated in its creation. Honestly, the studio exec who gave this film the green light should rethink their career choice. The story revolves around the budding (no pun intended) relationship between David, a mellowed out pot dealer played by the ever-charming Luke Wilson, and Serena, a leach who gives all women bad names played terribly by Alicia Witt. The evolution of their relationship spans a three-week time period, and for those of us living in the real world, that was hard to swallow. The two get together based on Serena's desire to promote David's pot-induced art work. Within a few weeks time, though, she's scamming her way into someone else's life, with unbelievable results. In all, this movie has no plot, no strong story line, and no reason to ever grab an audience's attention. Alicia Witt, who could stand to take some acting classes, is truly unbelievable and hard to watch. I don't care if she's a "real" red head and all men love that... those of us who can see past the carrot top see that this actress (and I use that term loosely) should go back to school and find a different career. If you are going to see this movie (and really, you should run screaming if presented with the prospect), look forward to light-hearted and silly performances by Andy Dick, Jack Black, and Brittany Murphy, though they aren't enough reason to actually sit through this 97-minute bore. You are better off catching Dick's performances in other quirky flicks, or Black's work in "High Fidelity" or "Tenacious D," or Murphy's fun performances in "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and "Clueless." If you are truly dead set on a stoner flick, check out "Friday", "Half-Baked", or "Homegrown." "Bong Water" hardly even touches on the topic of the title.