Hacks

Saw it on HBO or Cinemax a while back, twice mind you. Starts off kind of slow but even then has enough one-liners to keep one interested. When the gloves come off between these writers the laughs are numerous as the viscous world of Hollywood gets exposed. Dave Foley and John Ritter are great together as a duo of screenwriters hoping to get a coveted job. The other teams also have memorable moments, such as Richard Kind sucking up to the producer by offering him Chococinnos. While not a phenomenal movie, there have been worse that are released widely. Just another example of what mainstream audiences are missing.

I saw this a few weeks back on HBO and was: a) suprised I hadn't heard of it before, with such a strong cast and all. b) thoroughly entertained. The dialogue and performances were great. c) wondering how it managed to get two other titles...

The late John Ritter works well with Dave Foley, both skilled comedic actors who seem very relaxed and into the material.

Richard Kind plays a typical type of character for him, but he's good (that's why he plays this type).

I am a Stephen Rea fan (he has made some mediocre films bearable) and thought his performance here was particularly good. He's playing all dopey and whatnot...well, I won't give much of the plot away, but the title "The Big Twist" seems appropriate.

"Sink or Swim"! What kind of title is that?! It's like saying "Swimming with Sharks Part Two!" "Hacks" is more appropriate, and as mentioned before, I like the title "The Big Twist." So, why change the name so many times? Was the idea to sell the film like some sort of retitled Independent International picture, giving it a new title to trick people into seeing the same film more than once?

Darned if I know. I do know this is a good film, not great (it should have been longer) but it is good. All the other performances are sharp, the director is in control, and the dialogue simply crackles.

Recommended (especially to writers)...

I'm not sure why this is categorized as a mystery. It's really more of a jaundiced look at Hollywood, ala "Swimming With Sharks" or, a bit of a stretch, "Sunset Boulevard." There is the mystery of just what happened on that balcony, but it is never really followed-up on. Instead, it serves as the starting point for three writing duos to put together ideas for a new television series that one of them, a seasoned writer, has been offered. It took a while for this one to get going--too many disparate plot lines, etc.--but once it did, it was pretty good. I was surprised by the relatively well-known cast, since this was, apparently, a direct-to-video release. You could certainly do worse for a one-night rental.

Two scriptwriters are talking privately (they think) while, from across a coffee shop, an agent reads their lips, each speaker in turn, like HAL eavesdropping in "2001"... this is a movie about TV professionals trying to stay afloat as they feed the medium's insatiable appetite for material "dark... but not too dark... how dark depends on whether we get Sunday at 7 or Thursday at 10." Either you like this kind of insider-y stuff or you don't--I confess I have a weakness for it. And Illeana Douglas can do absolutely no wrong.

I love this movie. The dialogue, the situations, the acting, the ensemble cast, are all top-rate. I particularly enjoy the scenes of writing partners trying to come up with TV story lines, and the ridiculous ideas they come up with. In addition to the main cast, there are several excellent actors in smaller parts, such as Tom Arnold as the sleazy double-dealing Hollywood agent, Ryan O'Neal as the psychiatrist to the stars, and Lisa Kudrow as the cynical insomniac script reader. If you like movies about the inside business of Hollywood, you'll love this one. If you like good ensemble acting, great dialogue, and a comedic story line that does not involve murder or some other gratuitous violence, you will like this movie.