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This is a fantastic movie. Frank Whaley, whom I love as an actor, wrote and directed this perfect little indie film and it is interesting and endearing from beginning to end. Chris Klein gives an amazing performance as the alcoholic best friend-bad influence, to a hapless lovelorn Freddie Prinz Jr. Theirs is a friendship based on nothing good and the fuse is lit. It's a familiar relationship. One of them takes everything seriously. The other takes nothing seriously. And both are prone to bad choices.

How the story is framed and delivered to the audience is what makes this film so special and that's where Frank Whaley comes in. He knows this story and knows how to tell it. Your heart can't help but go out to these two jerks bumbling their way through life and leaving a swath of misery and regret in their wake. Whaley chooses some interesting camera angles with the two leads. A couple times he has them in the frame, in two dimensional profile, in fairly serious scenes, delivering their lines in the, visually, flattest possible way. I didn't understand the choice, but I thought it was interesting, and it made an impression.

Frank Whaley has to be commended for a great script, deft directing, and a funny cameo as an overworked, and most likely underpaid, "limo" driver. However, Chris Klein steals the show as the drunk screwup with a huge personality. He has perfect pitch as an actor and it's on full display here.

I'm not sure why this movie flew so low under the radar. It's too good to have such a low rating here and deserves better. See it. You won't be sorry.

not an original story. not artistic revelations. only a film about small, ordinaries things. about friendship and grow up, relations, happiness. superficial in the first part, touching in the second. short, a film about pure life. not surprising. but nice. and real interesting, first for the performance of Chris Klein who reflects in wise manner the symptoms of Peter Pan Syndrome.and this is the basic virtue of a film about almost nothing , who could be defined as only another from its genre. film about the purpose of life, it has the strange art to redefine old known things . and the result becomes, after the confusion , a decent work.

I knew nothing about this movie, wasn't familiar with the director, and didn't recognize any of the actors except for Wallace Shawn (Princess Bride) who makes a brief cameo. I was really impressed at how entertaining it was and how it so accurately & honestly portrayed a 'bromance' (close friendship between hetero guys).

There isn't a lot of plot. This is much like a road movie where the story unfolds as randomly as real life. Seemingly disconnected events occur--a party, a funeral, a plane trip, a hotel jaunt--and these events uncover the friendship between two buddies who are rapidly passing the age of immaturity (20-something) and entering the so-called serious phase of life (30-something). The problem is that one of them (Chris Klein) is not so ready to embrace that life, and his unerring capacity to get his buddy (Freddy Prinze Jr.) into trouble causes some friction.

In a weird way, this movie is almost like a romantic comedy between 2 guys but without any romance.

The two actors did a great job, particularly Chris Klein who plays the clown but in a very laid back & believable way. Freddy plays the straight man who, in an unusual twist, is more neurotic & spazzy than the clown. It's a lot of fun to watch.

The pace of this film is a bit slower than most mainstream flicks. The director is not afraid to dwell on some scenes & images for the sake of establishing a mood, and I liked that. Also the director resisted the temptation to hit us with a predictable Hollywood ending, and I also liked that.

I can't think of many films I'd compare this to (which says a lot for the movie). But the films that come to mind are "Grand Theft Parsons" and maybe a very laid-back version of "Planes, Trains & Automobiles".

Owen is an aspiring filmmaker who has been nominated for an award for one of his films. He works in the film industry, developing photos, and he doesn't seem to be that good at it. His friend Ray, who has an office job (this week), appeared in the film and plays drums in a rock band. He has a daughter Francie who lives with Ray's ex, who has a new man. Ray also has a drinking problem and is quite immature.

Owen is engaged to Lynn. Together, they attend a film with French subtitles together. She thoroughly enjoys it; he nearly falls asleep. Afterward they meet her French literature professor Noam who also really liked the film.

Then Owen and Lynn catch the end of the performance of Ray's band. Afterward, Ray claims to need help with his drums, and Lynn goes on home. The truth is that Ray wants Owen to go to Bertrand's party, where there are girls. And Rachel, one of those girls, seduces Owen while Ray strikes out with the others. Then Bertrand figures out he doesn't know Owen or Ray and certainly didn't invite them, and they are thrown out.

Ray has a number of problems. He supposedly can't hold a job, and his ex is dissatisfied with the amount of time he spends with his daughter, though Ray does seem pleasant to Francie. Did I mention he drinks?

Owen, Ray and several other guys get called to serve as pallbearers at the funeral of Matt's father in New Jersey. The funeral is depressing, though the ride to and from the funeral seems like "American Pie" or one of those other disgusting buddy movies.

While Owen is out of town, Lynn happens to meet Rachel and finds out the truth about her and Owen. Lynn wants to break up.

So Owen and Ray go to the festival where Owen hopes to pick up an award. When they arrive, they are supposed to go to the airport motel, but Ray sees Wallace Shawn and talks to him. He finds out Shawn is staying at the Four Seasons, and after conning the driver to take them there, Ray overhears that Shawn's son will be late. He convinces the hotel clerk he is Shawn's son and gets him and Owen a nice room and orders plenty of food, and drinks as much as possible. Then the guys attend the festival. One wacko, whose name I don't remember, really liked Owen's film and made Owen look like he would have potential, but his lines are so laughably ridiculous that I don't think he will be able to further Owen's career.

So what's going to happen? Will Owen and Lynn straighten things out? Will Ray ever fix his messed-up life? Will the two guys succeed with their hotel scam?

This film was enjoyable enough, at least part of the time. I didn't care for some of the more racy scenes at the party. I was really surprised by the plain-vanilla TV-PG rating, because it certainly deserved more.

Chris Klein was fun, especially when he was trying to con people. At work, he told a co-worker (possibly a boss) how beautiful she was. He couldn't possibly have meant physically, because the movie had many better-looking girls. Of course, the hotel scam was the best part, and Wallace Shawn was starting to get annoyed or possibly scared by his stalker.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler was pleasant enough, and quite pretty. In fact, she was gorgeous in one scene where she decided to let the machine pick up when the phone rang.

And Freddie Prinze Jr. did a capable job as well.

One standout performer was Frank Whaley, who also wrote and directed, as the quirky driver who was supposed to take the guys to the motel but instead had to go to the Four Seasons.

Sophie Nyweide also shined as Ray's little girl, mainly late in the movie.

I had a good time. That's what's important.

This film stars two of the most appealing young men in movies today - Chris Klein and Freddie Prinze Jr. and the director takes every opportunity to focus on their charm and good looks making the film a must see. I can just imagine the approach the director used when he pitched the script to the stars: "It seems that every time there are two good looking guys in a film they end up in bed together - well, it's about time we showed two hunks who are really close yet they never cross the line to bed each other down. I really think two handsome straight guys can stay straight rather than straying and that's what I want to say in this film." And he does. He clearly shows how much affection and love there is between the two male leads but he never compromises their straightness by subjecting them to intimacy which gives the film a very refreshing approach but also a kind of truth that best buds know about.