Virando a Mesa

I'm always partial to sunny California movies because I live in a rainy climate. So, a few stars just for that...

However, while this movie started off strong - a sparse, dark comedy, engaging storyline; it ended on an altogether different and implausible note. Which is a shame because it was a movie with a lot of potential, good writing, good story, good casting and good acting.

The "romance" between the two lead characters was a snooze. For the feminists out there, if you take issue with the story of Snow White and what it implies then the love story here may also irk you. The son's romantic life, while again implausible, was more interesting.

The not-so-subtle symbolism of dry, arid land vs. fertile land practically smacks you in the face.

Basically, if you have a couple of hours to kill on a rainy day, watch it. It's mostly entertaining. If you like complex situations neatly wrapped up with a bright Hollywood bow, you're in luck. If you like movies where peace is brought when gender roles are strictly adhered to, even better.

This is a quite enjoyable movie, well-made and pretty much an atmosphere piece, which is extremely formulaic (you'll know everything that's going to happen more than half-way through), but actually succeeds at being the sort of 'heart-warming' stuff that so many films market themselves as and fail at.

The humor is just offbeat enough to be particular, and I was actually quite happy to see that there were practically no pop culture references; this is significant, because for me, this means there's an actual story sustaining itself, rather than 'shout-outs' to the audience's immersion in contemporary culture.

And finally, perhaps most significantly: Jonah Hall, who I have disparaged in other posts, and whose acting I generally dislike, was actually quite good in this film. In other films, I've felt as if he was simply trying to imitate 'Cartman' from Southpark; there is a bit of that in this film, but Hall makes the role his own, and actually becomes a character you really care about, and feel Ray's pride and disappointment in. Perhaps Hall is developing as an actor, or perhaps this movie simply allowed him to do a better job.

This is a pretty nice 'date movie'. One of the only 'feel good' movies I've ever seen that wasn't saccharin and annoying.

This movie is set in the most hopeless part of American society. Where everyone has a hopeless, pathetic job or no job at all and spend their free time in an equally hopeless and neglecting manner. It's just over the top and presented in a delightful, light hearted way.

It's easy to identify with the lead character who is somewhat more "normal" then the people around him, but too passive to change things. Following his daily routine you realize (at least I did) it's how we all live, just exaggerated.

I found it a sharp comedy in both the humorous and the dramatic sense of the word. I liked it.

In my opinion, this was a really good film. I particularly liked the way that "country folk" were depicted. The film showed the humorous elements of living in the country as well as a sweeter side of living in the country (living happily without the need for all kinds of material things).

I also liked the way that the love story was depicted. It was the ordinary moments that made their love grow to what it is.

The thing that initially interested me in this movie was that Jonah Hill and Justin Long are in it as well as Danny Devito. As I was watching the film I noticed that one of the characters also stars in "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang" along with Justin Long in a very similar role. It might be another film for you to check out!

This is a light romantic comedy that is very dopey and really not that funny. It has some moderately humorous situations and characters but for the most part this thing is a terrible bore that winds up being a visual montage for Danny DeVito's endless voice-overs. He also has a bit part.

PLOT: Life in Troma, a desert town is kind of a pain in the ass for Ray, his wife is nuts, his kid hates him, his life gets turned upside down and then something interesting happens to Ray, who normally puts up with everything life hands him... it might have something to do with the cashier at the local mart.. what follows is total fluff, a little bit of strained chemistry as our actor tries to portray a heterosexual male and comes up a little short.

Overall it's a bore with a couple of fun scenes here and there -take a peek if you are bored, don't expect much.