The Chosen One

It's as if everyone in the film was acting in a comedy... except Rob Schneider, who played it totally straight. Not straight in a funny way like he was the straight man in a comedy. I mean he played it straight, as if he were in a serious drama. My reactions were; confusion, disappointment, irritation... and finally... well, after finally seeing that Rob was doing a darn fine job of dramatic acting (even though this was marketed as a comedy) I fast forwarded to the end, then ejected the DVD.

My final thought was, "Boy, he must have been mad at the director or something because it was like he intentionally ruined that movie by playing everything too straight." Rob is not a stupid guy. He had to have known he was screwing up what could have been a funny little comedy. Weird. I must say though, if his performance could be cut out and pasted into a drama it would have been very impressive.

I always thought Rob Schneider was a good actor - even in smaller roles he always shines. But "The Chosen One" shows he's got dramatic range. It's funny but not a full blown comedy. I liked it. Schneider co-wrote and directed it. There are a lot of great supporting roles in it like Steve Buscemi as his brother. When have you ever seen Steve Buscemi in a project that wasn't good? Holland Taylor from "Two and a Half Men" plays their mother. There are a lot of familiar faces in it. In a crowded marketplace of lowbrow comedies this one stands out as classy and heartfelt. Check it out. I thought "The Chosen One" was better than "Grown Ups" and some of the other R-rated summer comedies.

When you think of Rob Schneider usually two things come to mind.

1. Small cameo in an Adam Sandler movie 2. Mediocre comedy good for a few laughs but overall a disaster However this movie is surprisingly compelling. It's not a comedy but simply a really nice story. Rob Schneider is a care salesman who is living a completely empty life. His wife has left him, he drinks all the time, he has no real friends and he is pretty much utterly frustrated with his life However things started changing when one day 3 holy man from a south American tribe and their interpreter Marissa played by the wonderful Caroline Gomez come to his life. They tell him that he is The Chose One who is meant to save their tribe.

He reacts like any one of us would react and dismisses them. However he is a truly nice guy and tries his best to help them feel comfortable and return back to their home. This slowly starts changing him and this is done in a really great way.

And of course there is Steve Buschemi who is great as always I didn't expect to like this movie or at most I expected a few cheap laughs. But I was wrong. It was a really good movie and I recommend it to everybody :)

Let me start by saying that I have always been a Rob Schneider fan. The rubber faced act that Jim Carry brought to fame is all the better when its tinged with the smell of true desperation and for me this has always been the appeal of Rob Schneider.

Although brilliant, he has in many ways escaped fame and been relagated to the same bunker as legends such as Bruce Campbell, by which I mean that special group of guys who cant help but be funny even when they are trying to be serious.

I found myself at several points in this film bursting out laughing at Rob, even though he was just playing things straight. Not because he is a bad actor, far from it, but just because he is one of those guys that radiate humor like stink lines in a cartoon.

Quickly though, and despite the largely cheesy and casually racist plot, I found myself drawn into the Schneiders sinceer attempt to act his balls off, and do you know what, I don't think he did a bad job.

Everything about this movie should spell a flop, its obvious, stereotypical to the extreme, and more than a little ridiculous but a maturing Schneider some how makes it work and some how manages to extract from my blackening and shrivelled heart a grain of genuine emotion. So, well done Mr Schneider, your foray into drama has been a largely successful one, and it has been nice to see you act for a change.

Keep it up.

Well, first of all I have to start off by saying that this is not your usual Rob Schneider movie. I was expecting this to be a comedy and it even said so on the description, but I wasn't laughing once throughout the entire movie.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a bad movie, not by a long shot. There is a really nice story to the movie, and a somewhat deeper meaning to it all, and it also have a nice message to it actually, come to think of it. You might even say a spiritual enlightenment of sorts.

For me, this choice of movie is perhaps not the best suited for Rob Schneider, but his acting was right on the money. He sure does deliver, he was just out of place in a role like this. Perhaps because of all the previous comedy work he has on his resume.

The supporting roles portrayed by Steve Buscemi and Holland Taylor were also very well played, as were the role played by Carolina Gómez.

Despite the movie not actually being a comedy (as labeled), this is a very nice movie indeed, and it is definitely worth the time to sit through it. Just don't except to be in for a laugh fest, or you might be disappointed. The movie actually did take me by surprise, because it turned out to work well for a higher meaning, and the pieces fit well together in the end. So thumbs up for this one.