Pocket Listing

" Los Angeles... gorgeous girls, golden sunshine, and money! " and so this modern day morality tale set in the city of Angels begins. Good performances carry the film through its sometimes uneven pace, but the fun really kicks in when the Malibu villa comes into play.

A thoroughly entertaining expose on the treacherous dealings of contemporary real estate agents in Los Angeles.

The film starts off strong then sags a little in the middle, losing its way a bit when main character Jack falls from grace and winds up a landlord at a slum building. Things really pick up though when he is hired by a sexy vixen to sell a Malibu villa owned by her and her quietly menacing husband (a super fun Lowe).

Not the most realistic and by the book depiction of commerce, economics, and recession, "Pocket Listing" soars most when it is combining both crime genre and dark comedy elements. Give credit to new faces Jurdi and Clark for really turning on the heat and delivering stand out performances which more than hold their own opposite experienced vets like Lowe and Reynolds.

"Pocket Listing" takes a bit to build up but when it does, it truly delivers. 8/10

A very interesting mix of different genres, but especially a backstage look at the real estate market in Los Angeles. Of all the actors showcased, Jurdi excels and does his job very well. It also must be noted that the trophy Malibu villa is not the best visual. That prize belongs to Clark, who turns Lana into a femme fatale to remember.

This is a fun and relatively clever little film, far from perfect and a bit slow to get going but generally enjoyable overall.

What's interesting about it is that it is set in the backdrop of the American real estate crises but somehow it doesn't dwell on the drama of that dilemma. Rather, it spins an energetic crime caper about a Malibu villa and all the players that are trying to sell it for their own very shady reasons. As long as the film stays with this threadline, it works. When it tries to become a bit message oriented with a subplot about a Downtown tenement that's tied to the sale of the house and to the main real estate agent, it loses momentum and becomes less zesty.

Fortunately, it maintains enough energy to keep the audience engaged and one most give credit to the younger actors in the film for really carrying it nicely. Lowe and Reynolds have smaller parts but it's really the fresh faced ingenues that make this film pop. Overall, "Pocket Listing" is certainly ambitious, somewhat flawed but undeniably compelling.

Good film with a great cast, occasionally good dialogue, and some great one-liners. The story itself felt a tad bit lightweught for me, but it's still a fun time.