Arkansas

I did not have high expectations for this and thought it as no more than a 50/50 proposition to even make it through it. But I was pleasantly surprised by how well it held my interest and the casting was well-done, with the exception of Liam Hemsworth, who projected all of the personality of wallpaper, and may as well not be there at all when sharing screen time with the likes of John Malkovich.

The story is rather loose and ramshackle, going back and forth in time. There is definitely a wanna-be Coen Brothers vibe here, but you could do a lot worse for influences. Keep an open mind and your expectations to a minimum and you may just enjoy this one.

That's it. An intelligently written, well directed and well produced, greatly acted and tastefully photographed movie. Stylish and clear headed. Arkansas deserves at least a 7 on IMDB, like a lot of quite slow and clever little gems stuck around the 6. If you love cinema, do not miss this little jewel. Characters are graciously sketched in their lovely, human weirdness. You do not know a lot about them, but you can sense their past in their words, faces and actions. Liam Hemsworth is a little affected in a couple of scenes, but everyone else is credible even when exaggeratedly over the top, like Malkovich. Watch this movie if you want to watch a good, well-narrated and entertaining story. Cinema really needs this kind of productions, even if the ratings tell us that people need less quality.

Well I'm just surprised by the low rating Arkansas gets. I read a lot of negative reviews, stating Clark Duke wants to be like Quentin Tarantino but failing in doing so. I can't agree with that. Tarantino is Tarantino, he's the master in this genre and almost everybody loves him for that, me first as I'm a big fan of all the movies he directed yet. Clark Duke on the other hand did a pretty good job with Arkansas. For his directing debut I thought it was more than convincing. Sure he must be a big fan of Tarantino, but then again who isn't? But also as an actor he gave a good performance, his character was a delight to watch, and so were the characters of Vince Vaughn and Liam Hemsworth. Each character adds something special to the plot, a story that is well written, a sometimes intriguing story but most of the time a very enjoyable story to watch. So yes I'm very surprised Arkansas doesn't get higher ratings. It's a mystery to me what those one star reviewers are trying to achieve, is that really the worst movie they ever watched? I guess they don't watch much movies then because I've seen thousands worse movies than this one. Anyway, if you really like this genre of movies just give this one a fair chance, I did and was surely not disappointed.

Don't believe any of the negative reviews. I went into this flick expecting an average/so-so plot. Boy, was I WRONG! It's a great debut by director Clark Duke and Vince Vaughn, Liam Hemsworth and John Malkovich really shine in their roles.

I saw this movie without watching the trailer, without reading anything bah it. Sometimes I do this like a blind buy. The film is slow at times n tries hard to be a cool slick flick. Vince Vaughn saved this film from being a disaster. He once again played a drug dealer like the one from True Detectives, who wants to start afresh but..... The star cast is good, Eden Brolin's got a very different n attractive face. All in all, this one will not leave any impact.