Las Vegas - Terapia per due

Let me start by saying that this is an excellent film in almost every respect - clever dialogs which underlie a mature understanding of the psycho-dynamics of the characters, brilliant directing and overall very good acting. The main theme of the movie is denial - all characters lie to each other and especially to themselves about almost every respect of their lives. This is a fresh breath of air relatively to all those formula Hollywood movies where all characters only act according to some ridiculous higher ideology. I feel that for the first time in a long while I am actually watching the story of real people. Although the story in the movie comes to a solution, this is by no means a corny Hollywood like solution but actually is able to reveal some new insight into the story - which is always the sign of a great work of art. I am quite sure this movie deserves a larger audience than it got, I am certainly going to follow the next works of the creators of this film. Great job everyone.

Harried sitcom writer Taylor Mendon is a recovering addict and compulsive gambler who heads to Las Vegas to rescue his ditzy twenty-year-old niece from a career in prostitution and to get her to enroll in rehab. The problem is that Amanda (Brittany Snow) is more than happy with the choices she's made and finds it rather hypocritical and presumptuous of her uncle of all people to be on his high horse regarding how she's living her life.

Matthew Broderick has always excelled at playing the well-meaning, bumbling nebbish, but here, playing a well-meaning, bumbling nebbish who also happens to have alcohol and drug-dependency problems, he defies credibility. Moreover, writer/director Peter Tolan never quite strikes that proper balance between the lighthearted and the serious that he's so earnestly striving for (and which he often achieves on "Rescue Me").

That being said, "Finding Amanda" does have a nice feel for its settings, a partially unexpected resolution, and enough goodwill to almost make it an enjoyable experience.

This film is about a troubled middle aged man with addiction problems trying to rescue his niece from prostitution in Las Vegas.

Taylor is hopelessly addicted to gambling, hoping one day he will win it big. Amanda earns money by prostitution in Las Vegas, and is successful as she manages to make money to buy a house and a car at the tender age of 20. It is obvious that Taylor and Amanda are characters with things in common. They live in their own fantasy world, thinking that someday it will magically transform into utopia.

Given the subject matter, I find it surprising that "Finding Amanda" is marketed as a comedy. There are funny moments, but it is more a emotional drama about the two waking up from their dreamland. Taylor's addiction is convincingly portrayed by the adorable Matthew Broderick. Amanda is also a likable character, but she is far too happy and fluffy to be a person with a turbulent background. Greg, on the other hand, is convincingly despicable and disgusting.

"Finding Amanda" is slow at times, but it gives viewers ample time to digest what goes on with the characters. It provokes people to look into their lives, and maybe we can find a part of us that is hypocritical like Taylor is. This film is for people who like serious and emotional films, and it will not appeal to romantic comedy fans.

Though not his best work, (see: Election, and of course the classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off) Matthew Broderick still shined in "Finding Amanda" as a degenerate, somewhat-recovering gambler/drug user/drinker. His counterpart, Brittany Snow – sometime eerily looking like his former counterpart Reese Witherspoon from Election – also did a fairly good job as his prostitute niece. Though not as funny as I thought it would be, Broderick certainly delivers some pretty snappy lines (such as the kitchen knife) and truly shows what goes on for someone truly addicted and trying their best to convince their loved ones they don't have a problem, everything's under control. This is coming from someone who lives near Broderick's character in his lifestyle – minus the drugs and gambling other than horse races, that is – so, though biased, it is more clear to see that stories, lives, end up the same way as this (more tragedy than) comedy does. It's not a family movie, though – they don't just tell you about the prostitute's life, they show you. Absolute recommendation, but a solid four out of five (this scale is doubled, so I selected 8/10) stars as some of the predictable scenes you can see coming from the Mandalay Bay to the Stratosphere. (Side note: I read some reviews as this is the worst of 2008. Though they still might not like this film, I challenge those individuals to see: The Happening, 88 Minutes, Indiana Jones 4, Deal, Funny Games, Jumper, Speed Racer, I could go on…)

A really nice movie. Clever, a lot of very very funny lines, and uniformly strong performances. Better than so much of what is in theaters, I can't figure out why this didn't open on the big screen...oh yeah, it's for grown ups. Matthew Broderick manages to make his wealthy spoiled writer/producer sympathetic, mostly because his lines are so sharp, the character hasn't lost the ability to see the B.S., even as he peddles it. And the girl is a great new version of Reese Witherspoon, but 20 percent less cloying. I love that she's not super sexy: the movie is soaked in sex but not about sex...it treats it in such a matter of fact, American-as-apple-pie kind of way. If you watch this, you'll laugh. I keep calling up scenes and entertaining myself a day later. Congrats to the writer/director... and thanks.