Halfway Decent

i saw this film at the Austin film festival this past Saturday night. i have to tell you it was an amazing film. first off, it has a great cast that features Ernie Hudson, Finn Carter (from Tremors), Jamil Smith, and Steven Williams. this film beats out Berger's earlier film A Walk in the Park. this film is beautifully shot (on dv i might add) the acting is really great, & you can tell that the cast has great chemistry with each other, the characters are realistic and so is the plot line of the story. i laughed a lot during this film. what i like about this film is that it has these dramatic undertones that appear, then there is it is back to the comedy. Alan Berger continues his reign as the comic genius that he is, make that comic mastermind. it makes my top ten list in fact, it tops out A Walk in the Park. Berger's film reminds me the films of Mike Binder. on a side note, i was walking out of the Driskol Hotel in Austin and i saw Alan Berger coming into the lobby. anyway, we got to talking and he introduced me the the producer Vincent Robert. i had the pleasure of hanging around around Alan Berger, Vincent Robert, Ernie Hudson, and Finn Carter for about 6 1/2 hours. Alan is just as funny as his characters in his films. the rest of the gang are funny and nice. Hopefully a deal will be made to get this film out there. it is crucial that it be seen, in an industry that is stuck on remakes, i'm glad that a great & original film has been made and it's name is Halfway Decent.

I saw this at the 2005 Austin Film Festival and thought it was awful. It was advertised as a black comedy, yet was neither funny nor dark. The camera work was amateurish and the music jarring. The few jokes in this film would have worked better as two minutes skits on a comedy program not sandwiched in this plodding uninteresting drama. The technical aspects of this film, really make watching it very obnoxious. Digital Video is making it easier for people to make films these days. Unfortunately that doesn't mean a film should can get by without a decent cameraman.

I guess a film festival is the only place appropriate for a film like this, that way it will get weeded out before too many people are subjected to it.

"Halfway Decent" is not the best title for a feature film, but after seeing the film, I'd say it's perfect. Like the lead character say, "I have my good days, and my bad days." I think we can all relate to that. This is a movie about a man journey to find his way back to his true self, only to realize that he never really left. While there are some technical shortcomings, The performances in this film are all outstanding. Rarely in films these days, and hardly ever in Hollywood Studio movies do we get honesty and truth. These characters are real. Every moment is honest. The characters are people we can all relate to, and Ernie Hudson's performance is nothing short of brilliant. Alan Berger is definitely a directer/writer to watch. I hope distribution falls in place, because this is one movie that truly deserves to be seen.

This film is very, very solid. The acting was absolutely great (Finn Carter's superb performance as a fed up wife, and probably Hudson's best performance to date). Most importantly, the screenplay was cohesive and didn't waste a line - it got to the point, a quality that writers today seem to have a big challenge with. It didn't dabble and didn't satisfy any of the unnecessary rules of screenplay, which was a such a breathe of fresh air. The comedy was organic, not forced out or moronic. This mixed elements of instantaneous laughter with true wit. The themes of family, life as it comes, and true happiness really shown through with the wonderful performances and raw, real dialogue. The only thing that I can say to improve on was the music. I thought the music could have been better in the film because sometimes it would take me out of the moment of the scene. Some original music could have been recorded, which would have made the film better. The audience at Austin film fest loved it, and it was it's world premiere. Only the filmmaker had seen it, the cast, the producer, and everyone else hadn't seen it yet so everyone was nervous. It turned out great, and I wish this all the best of luck.