Sarbane's-Oxley

Having worked in the Dot.com environment and now in the Finance debacle, I found this little movie to be right on target. The fact that little known actors were in it made it a lot more believable. I was able to speak with the director and heard his slant on the storyline and the production which made the viewing even more interesting. Little movies with big stories for first-time out directors/writers always give the audience something to think about other than stunts, stars and costs of production. If you see this movie, you may be able to think about how you would react when the bottom falls out. I am sure we will hear more in the future from this production team and I hope they do not lose the realism.

It's always refreshing to encounter a low-budget indie film that sets out to be about more than a bunch of friends sitting around yakking, dating, and complaining about how hard it is to turn thirty. Sarbane's-Oxley takes as its jumping off point issues of SEC compliance and the merger between two technology companies ... but wait, don't start yawning yet! This is just the backdrop for a twisty, tangled, often very funny tale featuring greed, corporate espionage, double-crosses, and illicit sex.

That acting level is a solid grade up from your average indie (almost all the leads, along with notable work from a couple of very funny side characters), as is the cinematography, with its gracefully mobile camera. The story gleefully piles on the complications, wrapping its hero in a firm knot of familial, connubial and fiscal tensions that cathartically unravel as the movie climaxes. There's a lot of fun stuff here.

For a first feature, this is an amazingly accomplished production. If I had one complaint, it might be that I would have liked to see a little more nuance from the C.E.O. villain -- there's nothing particularly unrealistic about a character who's just a greedy, manipulative jerk, but I always enjoy characters who have more than one side on display.

But that's a nitpick. In general, Sarbane's-Oxley is an unusually mature and complex achievement from first time filmmakers who undoubtedly have more great things coming.

I can't say I agree with the other user comment, although it seems obvious it's the director or someone associated with the film posting this.

The story is weak at best, but it's the acting that really makes this a stinker. There's not a real actor in the lot. The bad guy CEO would be great if this was a Naked Gun type of film. The lead male is Shatner meets Cuba Gooding. Just appalling.

I'm sure the actors aren't really to blame. The director has a lot to learn about making a film, creating an arc, and bringing out performances from the cast.