According to Spencer

The stale premise - an innocent youth comes to the big city and against all odds wins the career and girl of his dreams - is not made fresher by such devices as a deceased grandma who keeps showing up to offer sage advice. (The only point of marginal interest is the script's limp switcheroo on "The Apartment": Here, it's the junior executive (Kirshner) who's involved with the boss, while the torch-carrying schnook is working class.) In "King of the Hill" Jesse Bradford had enough charisma to carry a film, a quality that appears to have receded as puberty set in. Or maybe he just gets poor career advice. Certainly he is ill served by drek like "SwimFan," "Speedway Junky," and this one. . .

In a subplot tied with the thinnest of threads to the main story, Spencer's roommates (David Krumholtz and Adam Goldberg) are holed up in a mansion they evidently and unaccountably own, attempting to make an amateur porn film. Watching their mirthless antics I was reminded of the efforts of supporting players Abbott and Costello to shine as a team in "One Night in the Tropics," except neither Krumholtz nor Goldberg would qualify as "the funny one." Even the title is off - Spencer is a clueless naif who never expresses any view of life that would qualify as "according to." The picture seems intended as a lighthearted romp among friends, but the results are just heavy, predictable, and dull.

Jesse Bradford has no idea of what to do with his life. So he moves to Los Angeles, where he quickly scores an apartment, a job at an advertising agency, and a reconnection with Mia Kirshner, whom he has loved since he was about ten. Then he drifts and things start to go away. Fortunately there's the ghost of his grandmother, Florence Stanley, to tell him what to do when things fall apart.

The movie is eked out with what are supposed to be quirky characters, like his room mates, who are making a porno convinced it is an art picture, and the executive at the agency who is dating Miss Kirshner, and so forth. I find them all occupying the border space between sad, delusional and disgusting. While Miss Kirshner and Miss Stanley are charming and speak the lines to advance the plot with conviction, the other characters are tiresome. With Giovanni Ribisi and Adam Goldberg.

I don't know if the director and writer tried to much to create a movie that would be very Kevin Wiliams.

The sub plot of the gay room mates with the idea of making a porn sounded fun and kind of interesting for this kind of movie, but it just didn't work as it was carried in a silly way.

Spencer's love interest plays the main plot of the movie. The guy is a geek with mediocre life and job and suddenly his ideas reach to a high exec. from a publicity company and his life changes for good. He is rich now and he gets the super hot and beautiful Melora. This girl is kind of slutty as dates a guy to make her ex-boyfriend jealous and in the end goes with the nerdy guy that suddenly becomes rich.

Melora played hard to Spencer and rejected him several times. It's beyond reality that she changed her mind and feelings after all that she made Spencer go through.

Anyways, the movie is for pure entertainment as it doesn't make the audience think or generate feelings. It's just a "romantic" comedy that feels very 90's with absurd sub-plots and a predictable ending.

4/10. Watch the movie for Melora and the cute Marisa Ribisi. I catched this movie at 2:00 a.m. on cable. Don't waste your money on this.

Spencer (Jesse Bradford) moves to Los Angeles to start anew. Unexpectly, he runs into (literally!) a car driven by a girl, Melora (Mia Kershner), from his home town who he has admired for years. Voila! She also works at the same advertising firm where Spencer has just signed on as a mail clerk. However, there are complications. To begin, Melora has an on again, off again relationship with a big ad man from the same company. Also, Spencer has a room in an old mansion owned by a gay male couple, who may need him to star in their film project. It is X-rated! Does Spencer have a chance with the lady of his dreams? For those who love old fashioned love stories, this one is a good one! The two stars are wonderfully attractive and funny and the bizarre stream of characters that inhabit the film hit the funny bone, too. The costumes are a bit dismal but the local scenery is very nice. However, a word of caution is advised. There is some racy dialogue pertaining to the gay couple and their pornographic film. While the number of minutes devoted to them is small, those who like good clean fun may be offended. Nonetheless, this film shoots an almost-straight arrow at the heart of those who cherish the timeless tale of love.

This movie was sub-par at all attempts at comedy,romance,and wit.Most of the movie is spent emphasizing the wounds we all suffer after a relationship is broken or lost.The leading woman was SO boring,she could hardly hold my attention or interest and she just came off as annoying.The best part of the film was Spencer's room-mates.They made me laugh a little,hardly enough to recommend this movie to my friends.The truth is,if this movie made more of an attempt to be a romance or comedy,not both,the characters would be more defined and we could see their point of view and understand why they have certain tendencies towards relationships.So if you want to kill an hour and thirty four minutes,but don't want to get caught up in a movie's plot,see "According To Spencer".

P.S. if your seeing this movie for Giovanni Ribisi,don't turn your head or you'll miss his MINUTE AND A HALF cameo!!