Diggers

Well, this an interesting movie. I liked it. I liked the characters, and the story was okay. Not a fast moving film, but that's okay. It goes along at it's own pace.

The characters are believable for the most part. It's hard to believe this film is set just an hour away from Manhatten.

So, here's my beef with this film. Certain things have become too commonplace in current films. Do we really need the vulgar language all the time? Is that a modern thing? Second, for some reason, there always had to be a sex scene. Do we really need that all the time? And thirdly, there always seems to be a seen of someone going to the bathroom , which in this film happens more than once. Come on film makers, some things really need to be implied and left to the imagination. I don't want to watch a movie and see a guy sitting on the toilet.

I saw this movie at SXSW in Austin right after attending a panel about the making of the movie. The film was originally to be directed by funny man David Wain of Stella fame, but he pulled out to direct "the Ten" which is an amazing film. I expected the film to be funny. Ken Marion, who wrote it, is a hilarious comedian. Paul Rudd, the lead actor, has been in comedies almost exclusively since Wet Hot American Summer and David Wain, who produced the film, is hilarious. The movie, however, was very serious. It had some amazingly hilarious moments, but overall it was a moving, serious film. I was most amazed at the fact that they pulled it off with style. A bunch of comedians made a moving, well structured, meaningful, fulfilling drama. Everyone should see it.

This is a dramatic comedy. That's it. It's a great fun story about a handful of friends trying to survive in a small blue collar town. It's funny and heart warming.

The reviews were pretty good for this one, and a former girlfriend of mine is in love with Paul Rudd, so that was the main reason I ended up seeing it. It was good...actually writer Ken Marino steals just about every scene that he's in. Lauren Ambrose does a good job, and I always have liked Maura Tierney.

Nothing special though. If you are interested in seeing it, then do so. If you're not, I wouldn't be going out of my way for this one.

The funniest part (unintentionally, I'm sure) of this movie is in the DVD Special Features, where a film reviewer in Dallas, who is affiliated with HDNet (the film's backer) says something like, "I know my company is affiliated with this movie, but this is honestly the best movie I've seen in the past year or year and a half." Please! It's nowhere near that good! Way to be objective!

Diggers is a touching character-driven drama about a group of family, friends and lovers living in a small town. It features outstanding acting from a cast made up, mainly, of little-known performers. The characters are interesting and well-developed through authentic dialog and the direction that effectively captures the small-town atmosphere. The story…well, did I mention that the characters and dialog are good? No real story here to speak of; just a meandering tale of people coping with changing life circumstances.

Paul Rudd, semi-familiar from roles in recent comedies like Knocked Up and 40 Year Old Virgin, plays Hunt, the last in a long line of clam diggers in a town where a ruthless corporation named South Shell is squeezing out the small individual clam diggers. Corporations suck. Anyone who doesn't think so, probably works for one. Hunt, along with his friends and family, struggles to come to grips with their dying way of life, as they live and love their way through the story. Maura Tierny is particularly impressive as Hunt's sister and Josh Hamilton is great as his erudite buddy while Alex Pickett steals scene after scene as a father under pressure.

This movie reminds me of Perfect Storm without the storm. The atmosphere is set and the characters are developed, but not much happens. Its not unpleasant to watch and doesn't really drag, but seriously, shouldn't something happen?

This work was first posted on realmoviereview.com