LolliLove

One of the most scathing, crude, funny, spot on satires I've ever seen. If you're looking for the darkest of satire unencumbered by a big studio that try's to be PC about everything this is the movie for you. Take time out to watch the outtakes, deleted scenes and all of the extras on the DVD. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. Fantastic.How they got everyone together without laughing long enough so they could complete this is a feat I'll never be able to do. Just the idea for the movie, passing out lollipops covered in wrappers that contain uplifting phrases and inspirational paintings - and then thinking that this will in some small way help homeless people, is inspired. Truly unique - and hilarious.

As a fan of the good people at Troma's work and ideals, it was on visiting the Troma site that I stumbled on this gem; a mockumentary about helping the homeless by giving them lollies, Lollilove is a sharp satire about helping those less fortunate and a strong debut from Jenna Fischer, but not without flaws.

The characters are well written, and the cast are believable and funny. Even Lloyd Kaufman, in one of his stronger role, as Father Lloyd. James Gunn gets most of the laughs as the ridiculous artist husband, making a number of very un-pc statements - his character is improved for it. The editing, though, is the films trump card, making the film hold together better than most mockumentaries (and a lot of the Troma back catalogue for that matter), looking a lot more professional than its meagre budget justifies. Though Lollilove isn't your average Troma picture and probably won't please all Troma fans, this does share the Troma independent spirit and the dark macabre humour.

That said, there are flaws, the major one being its length; a 65 minute running time, which for a feature film is not long enough to be truly satisfying, at least to this cinephile; yes, the deleted scenes on the DVD would have harmed the film had they been included, but Lollilove would have benefited an extra day or twos shooting, and 10 minutes more the running length. One clumsy directorial choice was the bleeping of swearing, intended to make Lollilove more like a TV show, but seems out of place given the dark nature of humour. Also, a couple of points in the film the joke ratio isn't as strong as it could be, especially when compared to the work of Christopher Guest (a tough comparison point, being that he's an auteur of this genre).

Though not perfect, Lollilove is a wicked satire, a promising debut, and a good Troma title to boot. Perhaps to fully appreciate this film, it is necessary to note the low budget production values, and the work done between husband and wife Jenna and James Gunn. This is worth further investigation if your a fan of mockumentaries, and have a dark sense of humour.

Knowing that this movie was made with such a tiny budget really is amazing. The idea is just genius: a yuppie couple decide to give out lollipops covered in "designer wrappers" hoping to inspire the homeless to get jobs, stop doing drugs, or even stop blowing up planes (with James' characters Mustafa and Osama bin Awesome). Of course, their idea is met with a lot of skepticism as well as downright anger, but Jenna and James fight through this negativity and get to live out their "dream." And fail. It's not politically correct, and it's not glossy or perfect, but goddamnit, that's the way movies should be! See this movie!

A yuppie couple want to give something back to the community. They have a scheme which involves giving out special lollipops to the homeless. They believe that the homeless could learn self-worth via lollies wrapped in special wrappers covered in inspirational slogans and drawings.

This low budget mockumentary is quite surprisingly a product of the Troma studio. I say unexpected as their brand of comedy could best be described as 'wilfully stupid', whereas this film contains a comedy of a far subtler variety. The two stars are Jenna Fischer and James Gunn, who also wrote the thing. It's a very good bit of work from them as they both put it great comic performances as the narcissistic couple who are so self-obsessed they never realise just how ridiculous their foolish scheme is. The writing too is pretty good with a lot of black comedy and satire. But the most impressive thing for me was that I found myself actually laughing aloud a few times which is more than happens with most comedies. Not a bad effort at all.

This movie is mockumentary at its finest - never so outlandish that it's implausible, yet significantly funnier and wittier than what happens in day to day life.

The movie as a whole centers around the trials and tribulations of a would-be Hollywood power couple as they struggle to start a nonprofit organization to help the homeless, with only their naivety, narcissism, and good intentions to guide them. Jenna, the self-proclaimed "Martha Stewart" of fund raising, and her obsessive-compulsive egomaniac "artist" husband James are looking to help the homeless thru "inspirational" art wrapped around lollipops but just can't seem to get the idea off of the ground, whether it be a lack of support from others or an internal tiff or two in their marriage. Absolute hilarity ensues as they work to conquer both. It's not that they don't know that there are problems in the world - it's that, being of well means, they have no idea how to approach the problems at hand. They always innocently see the world through the eyes of the well privileged and are left wondering why nothing seems to go right.

Their naivety is, more than hilarious, touching. As narcissistic as their idea of inspiring the homeless is, you want very much for them to succeed, because in a less-than-perfect world where nobody helps the homeless at all, you at the very least appreciate the seemingly sincere (though misguided) efforts of these two, and you want not to ruin the dreams of those so innocent.

The movie on a whole is a bit rough around the edges - many parts were improvised, and this shows through on a few of the more inconsistent scenes. It sometimes helps scenes to come across as more natural, but more often than not it feels like somebody forgot a line and was trying to cover up. Still, on a whole, this movie is hilarious, touching, and very much worth your time should you come upon it at your local video rental store.