Stickmen

Jack is a ladies' man who can barely remember the names of the many women he has had in his bed – even when they are still in his bed. Wayne has been dumped by his girlfriend, while Thomas barely sees his and is starting to cheat with Sara. Together they have one main love – playing pool in their local bar. When the barman gets into money trouble he strikes a deal with loan shark 'Daddy' to bet the rest of the bar on his three customers to win Daddy's annual high profile pool contest. Going under the name Stickmen, the trio enter the contest, but can they keep their nerves among distractions and Daddy's violent methods for managing anything.

Not sure what this was about, I decided to give it a go in the absence of anything else that I really wanted to see. The film marks itself out as being based around the visual style and snappy dialogue of things like Lock, Stock, with the similar theme of crime and cool protagonists. In this regard I kind of accepted that this film wasn't going to do anything special at any point and I just met it on its own terms. The plot is nothing more than a collection of unlikely pool games punctuated with talking, f*cking or fighting all on the way to the inevitable conclusion with a few unconvincing twists. It never really does anything unexpected but it does have a certain energy to it that keeps it watchable.

The director has learnt from other people and gives the film a good atmosphere with a good sense of energy and style – again it is hardly different or unique but it does work well enough to do the job. The script has the same rough energy to it, mixing pop culture references with enough of a flirtatious swagger to come across as entertaining even if it lacks any real laughs, clever scripting or wit. The cast help the script in this area, with some typically New Zealand acting – tough guys, sassy women etc. Magasiva is a nice presence – build, sexy and with good charisma; he has little to do other than that but he is as required. Wills provides some good laughs and even Rotondo deals well with the fact that he has to carry much of the actual story involving his character and Sara. Nordhaus also has this problem and she does better than the material allows. Kessell is very cute and sexy but doesn't do much more than that – but in fairness the film didn't ask for anything else. The various support characters all help keep the films energy with several colourful parts, albeit they just gimmicks rather than people.

Overall this is not a very good film but it treads a solid path that is energetic and stylish enough to cover its many weaknesses and produce a roughly enjoyable film. Lacking anything original to do and with a pretty thin plot, it falls to the director's style, snappy dialogue, sex, violence and pool scenes to carry the film; they're not much cop any of them but they do enough to carry the film anyway.

This is not the best movie I have seen in a while - but it is one of the most entertaining. It moves along well, and both the story and characters are fun and interesting. The end is great, and seems 'just right'.

Heavily influenced by Guy Richie's 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', with a similar plot (a few likeable lads get in over their heads with colourful local gangsters), style (slow-motion and other camera tricks, dark humour, some sexy violence) and setting (the seedier side a big city, particularly lots of bars), this is an enjoyable if shallow piece of pulp film. Like most Kiwi films some of the acting leaves a bit to be desired, none of the characters are particularly deep, you won't learn any higher truths or even move your intellect out of second gear, but it is good fun, particularly if you enjoy a bit of pool. Wait for the entrance of 'The Men In Black': it's the movie's best scene.

6/10

I don't like to repeat what has been said before, but it is true. This is very much like Tarantino meets Ritchie. With that said, here is the lowdown. The first scene (set) has such a great slap to it, if you do not find it funny; there is no sense in going any further.

Three mates (best friends) get put into an underground pool tournament. The real catch is it consists of only one game per match and locations of the matches keep changing. Keep in mind; the 'shock' content is part of this grand journey. The dialogue is quite humorous. Although you may not get all of the humor, as this is a New Zealand (Kiwi) brand of humor, it is great just the same.

The three words to best describe this film would be seedy, sexy, and smart. The many directions the characters go in this film is exactly what happens to real people when put under strange conditions. This is totally devoted to the characters rather than pool, but it is sure to be a pool theme classic film. Low budget? You bet, but totally worth it. So I do recommend it for the Babes, Booze, Bars, Bros., and yes of course - the billiards!

I don't know where some of the folks leaving comments are coming from. Maybe I am not "high brow" enough, but I do know a funny and entertaining movie when I see one.

I caught this movie on a flight from London to Chicago and got to watch it twice. The second time was even better as I managed to catch some nuances that I missed the first time around.

I liked this movie so much that I am going to try and purchase the DVD. I get the feeling that this will be one of those few movies that I will never tire of watching and that every once in a while I will pop in the DVD player just to unwind and get reacquainted with an old friend (like Ferris Bueller's Day Off).

Now I only hope that there is a sequel and that it is as good as the first one!