Highball

What a shame this movie was so dull. So many great actors, some doing a terrific job. Chris Eigeman, for example, is a master of this type of intimate, low-budget film which, with far less editing than is seen in slicker productions, is at times closer to theater than to Hollywood; his delivery is natural and his body conveys enough that the extensive cutting it takes to make some actors come alive can be safely dispensed with. For pure fun, the great Peter Bogdanovich spoofs the insider impersonations that are a well-known aspect of his conversation.

Sadly, such quality is not the standard. John Lehr starts out painfully over the top as Miles, and Carlos Jacott as Felix is barely believable until the bar scene well into the middle of the film - although he redeems himself with a strong and funny performance in the last ten minutes of the film. The couple whose apartment is the only setting are an unlikeable and unconvincing pair much given to excesses of acting that bring out rather than overcome the weaker points of the script.

In fact, unlikeability is at the center of the film: Felix, about whom what little plot there is revolves, is known to all but his 'best friend', Jessie, as a louse; Jessie's wife describes Felix accurately as an asshole. Unfortunately few characters are more sympathetic, and only Eigeman's Fletcher, who rarely appears, is pleasant enough to carry the viewer past the stilted dialogue and melodramatic hamming that are the movie's basic features.

I just watched this film and I was amazed at what an effect It had on me. It was very funny and weird, but most of all it was true. The writing was sharp and often hilarious, but the performances are what really pull it off. I often say that Chris Eigeman steals any movie he is in, but it doesn't happen in this movie. All the actors hit the right mark to create something that is rare in current independant films. No one in this film over or under acts. If you love dialogue driven comedies with some fine nuanced perfomances (ie Whit Stillman, kicking & screaming) you'll enjoy this flick.

It's a nice surprise to see so many famous names get together for a (very) low budget film like this (the end credits celebrate its being filmed in just six days). Even nicer than that is the incredibly witty dialogue and situations that are so perfectly satirized at a party. This film follows a group of couples (and the permutations therein) and their friends at three parties- a housewarming, Hallowe'en, and New Years. You've been to one of these parties. You know these people. There's the insufferable prick that keeps getting invited, theres the Grudge between two guys, there's the ex-girlfriend dating someone else now... etc. It's a BRILLIANTLY funny movie, and there it gets funnier each time you watch it- too many of them go over your head the first time round.

After eight years of working in the film industry and a life time of watching them, I've finally found the worst film to date. This movie was horrible for a multitude a reasons. I've checked the directors background and saw that is was not his first. This came as a surprise to me considering the number of amature mistakes that I found, just after the first couple minutes. Not only was the lighting, acting, (outside of Eric Stoltz) and story line well below sub par, but the set was one of the worst dressed sets that I've ever seen. You might think that I'm nit picking a bit, but then again isn't that saying something within itself.

If this were a student film, I would understand, but it's not. The director takes a pseudonym because, well at least I believe, because it's an experiment gone very wrong. I'll make a list

1. The lighting, blunt, bullying, washout. It's almost unnerving to watch as if a science fiction.

2. No story served with a never ending plate of hit or miss bon mots. I call it self-indulgent. I won't lie to you and say there aren't flashes of wit and charm... there are, but I find that this film is very much like what it shows: a person who tries too hard and has you cornered at a party.

3. The set... it's soooo dark. Why? Do you want me to have a nervous breakdown instead of laughing which is the intent I assume.

4. Noah Bambaugh has made me laugh a lot in his other films. All the while, I felt that he had the potential to go off the rails into the realm of pretentiousness, banal, insufferable New York upper east/west side intellectual hipster dreck. In the previous films he created memorable, earnest characters and a plot. Not this time... without story you are left with nothing.