High Life

Caught this on Showtime, and it struck me as a real gem flying low under the radar. Though obviously not big budget, it held my interest and really worked. Excellent script, acting, etc. (For some reason it reminded me of Dustin Hoffman's "Straight Time".)

While Showtime has far more than its share of truly awful gay vampire flesh eating low budget considerable violations of the film genre pieces of crapola, sometimes, "even a blind pig finds an acorn every now and then."

Consider this little jewel a humble acorn undeserved by Showtime.

This flick really works. I've done some time on the street, and have seen the interaction of morons with reality. One is left pondering that classic bit of wisdom, "The best laid plans of mice and men, often go astray..."

But, even if you are a loser, you have to play out your hand. What the arty fartsy French existentialists would term, "La condition humaine."

This is low down fun. It has a very well-scripted, plotted, and thought through feel to it and there really are worse ways to send your time.

It reminded us a lot of Australian cinema, where losers just keep on losing but just more and more outrageously, and it is a film that makes you laugh mostly 'cos it ain't you.

All the characters are exactly that, characters, and all of them are nicely done. Everything from the get go just works and the take on the 80s is pitch perfect - no Reaganomics and Wall Street here, this is 70s hangover time to perfection.

A fun little movie with heart, drugs, and great, great incompetence...

What an unexpected Great Movie! Having come across this movie and noticing Timothy Olyphant in the cast, I decided to watch. Another fantastic movie that did not get press. Shameful.

Excellent acting. Each character was well crafted, quirky and emotive. Timothy Olyphant rocked as Dick. Each shot showcasing spot on facial expressions and genuine likability. Rossif Sutherland glides on the screen with charm and wit; hands down his best work. Joe Anderson was perfectly cast and so money, even with his "one lung". Stephen McIntyre made it hard to believe he was acting it was that good.

This was a stellar ensemble cast. Story was tight. Editing fantastic. Music kept the viewer involved and geared. Well paced with no slow parts. Consistently comedic interwoven with drama.

The joy of this movie is its slice of life character realism with their flaws just drawing you into their world. No perfect car chases. No crazy stunts. One very funny car honking scene.

This is one of those few movies I will watch again and again any time.

yeah. yeah. yeah. for me, it's the best dope shooter movie since drug store cowboy. but spun was really good too. but anyway, drugstore cowboy made me want to shoot dope, but this flick made me want to flush it all down the toilet. it is a big bummer. no glamor at all.

high life, shows that dope draws many types of people together in common junky endeavors--primarily getting high, but also in doing time.

these guys don't just share the junky drive, they also share the junky attention span. they're like two year olds--the world flying by them doesn't exist past six hours and the need for the next bump.

and timothy olyphant, man he's good. i'd watch a half hour infomercial if he was in it. and hopefully he'll just keep getting better--that is if he isn't pulled off course by some home-made junky fix, or he just gets burned out on all that Hollywood crud.

i really liked this, it's a good flick. the characters are well developed, but that's kinda easy--you probably know all these guys already; except i hope there's no bug in your life. cause' if there is, chances are you're living this movie and not watching it.

The film does have some moments.

Just not enough to string together to make a fully enjoyable movie.

Almost all of the highlights belong to Timothy Olyphant who is launching his career long charm offensive.

Beyond that, its really a nothing movie full of characters you could easily live without ever meeting.

As a result the movie is just as frustrating as it is funny. Mediocre springs to mind when thinking about High Life.

All the other aspects of the film are pretty run of the mill, it looks ok, it sounds ok and is thankfully short.

See it for Olyphant only otherwise give it a wide berth :)