Confusões

"Knots" a predictable sex comedy from director of no note, Greg Lombardo. It is short on both sex and comedy, but is almost worth watching because A) John Stamos is actually good in it. B) You get to see Ric Ocasek's hot, Czech wife naked and C) Tara Reid surprisingly doesn't suck in it. The down side? The sex is totally tame and it's really not very funny. The rest of the cast is serviceable. Scott Cohen (from The Gilmore Girls) and Annabeth Gish (from The West Wing) play are bored married couple and Paulina Porizkova plays a vixen that reaps hell into their lives for no good reason at all, but ultimately we don't really care about any of the characters as the screenplay limps to it's obvious, group hug conclusion. "For No Good Reason At All". That would have been a good tag line for "Knots". You have been warned.

(Titled "Sex, Love, & Lies" on network TV.) The story starts with Dave (Scott Cohen) and Greta (Annabeth Gish), somewhat stale in their marriage, moving to a different apartment in New York. Dave thinks that he paid the movers too much, this place isn't that big once all their things are in it, a strong hint of hopelessness. But he is a straight-arrow faithful guy who loves his wife, but monthly sex with Greta has lost its magic. A host of other old and new friends enter the fray to help Dave and Greta figure it all out, in this very offbeat comedy. Many will not enjoy the loose play with conventional morals. SPOILERS FOLLOW. Dave catches the eye of pretty attorney, Lily (model Paulina Porizkova), but introduces her to friend Jake, and when Lily resists Jake's dinner invite, Dave suggests he and Greta go too, and Lily agrees. At dinner, when Greta seems to object that Dave was out with "the boys", Lily suggests a "girls night out." Later, Dave comes home early to find Greta and Lily in bed, nude! Dave is rightly upset and baffled, the three guys get together to figure out what to do, but Dave is surprised to have divorce papers served to him at work. Angrily, he goes to Lily's law office, and after some histrionics kisses her, and they have wild sex on her desk! Loose lips Jake encounters Emily (Tara Reid) at a bar, tells her about his friend Cal (John Stamos) and his wild sex between meetings with his fiancée, who happens to be Emily. Emily shows up at Cal's, finds a woman, decks Cal -- twice. The three women get together to figure things out. Other things develop and, when Dave goes home to get some things, Greta shows up, they talk, the passion returns, they have the best sex ever, Dave thinks things will be OK between them, but in bed Greta says, "I'm a lesbian." They all go on to Cal and Emily's wedding, after Cal promised fidelity and signed a pre-nup that would give Emily 70% if he cheats on her. But Dave knows (photos of Cal and Lily) Cal can't, and speaks up to halt the wedding. Lily calls Jake so he can comfort and leave with Emily. Dave and Greta sit in a pew and talk, "Friends?" "Friends." "Good", says Greta, "because I'm pregnant."

It all begins with a bored married couple moving to Manhattan, huge happy faces on every box.

In an incredibly funny film about relationships (Director Greg Lombardo describes it as a comedy about our search for connection and the romantic disasters we survive along the way), Scott Cohen finds out painfully that his marriage is in trouble, and things unravel and ravel and unravel again from there. I have a feeling that quite a few quotes will end up here after the film gets a general release.

Paulina Porizkova, as a vixen with an evil grin who seems to enter the fray from all sides, is the big surprise, as she creates a supporting role deserving of an Academy Award nomination.

Also great are John Stamos, Annabeth Gish, and Tara Reid. I want the DVD now! Edit: I've got it!

This really took me by surprise. I was expecting fun, light fare, but ended up loving this film. Paulina Poriskouva puts in the best performance I've seen in a long time - sexy, funny, and well acted. Annabeth Gish is awesome, much like her short appearances on the West Wing. John Stamos is hilarious and much more interesting than the junk he did on full house. Tara Reid is cute and not her "bad publicity" persona.

Many films would hang themselves on the twist (which I'm not going to give away) of the film's premise, and kind of leave the movie to its own devices. The film really goes forward from the premise and develops each one of the characters completely.

Just awesome cast, very good writing, and extremely funny! Loved it.

I rented this movie the other night and was thoroughly surprised by how good it was. I'm not a real "indie" sort of guy, but I thought the story was great without being trite or falling into a lot of the traps that sometimes come with a comedy like this. The characters are well drawn and there are some real standout performances, especially from John Stamos, Paulina Porzikova, and the guy who played "Jake" - really funny! The plot covers six main characters and still manages to make perfect sense... all the while being pretty hysterical. Stamos' character has some great lines which I plan on using! All in all, great little movie.