User reviews

Sitting down with this, I was afraid to see what was going to appear on the screen. I had no real expectations of the film, and I had no idea what it was about, other than who was in it, and the cover looked like a good heist kind of movie. Wow. It was so much better than I ever would have imagined. Not only was it actually funny, and not just trying to be funny and then totally failed during the trial, but actually, truly funny.

The lines were well-written, the acting was all right on, and I thought everyone was perfect for the characters they'd been given except for one person, and that was Woody Harrelson. He was good, but I just don't consider him all that funny, and so it was kind of a bad choice, in my opinion anyway, to cast him in this role.

Alicia Silverstone was really good, surprisingly enough, and didn't carry any of her 'Clueless' days along with her for this role. John Cleese was just right for the role that he was given, David Krumholtz was annoyingly good (because that's what his character required), and drum roll please...the best person in the whole movie was, Paulo Castanzo. He was hilarious, as he always is, and very smart. He delivers his lines perfectly and without failure, always makes each and every one of his scenes priceless and memorable.

The basic plot of this film is that there are three employees of a bank in a small no-name town, who all want to rob the bank for different reasons. The movie starts off at the end, and works it's way backwards, so that you see what happens, in order for the rest of the film to make sense.

It was cleverly written, and very much over looked. Although we won't be seeing any Oscar nominations for this film, it still was noteworthy and definitely worth the rental fee. There is no sex, no violence, and no language as far as I remember, so the whole film would be appropriate for younger audience viewers.

I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it without question. It's rare that a movie like this comes along, that's quick and smart. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Given the cast, and after seeing other comments on IMDb, I chanced it on this one, and it was well worth my money. I frequently burst out laughing. Undoubtedly the funniest bits are the extremely varied ways in which Woody Harrelson's character messes up - occasionally predictable, but well acted slapstick at its best. John Cleese was middling, best at the end, while the opening sequence has a splendid running gag and a marvellous outbreak by Alicia Silverstone. Perhaps Rachael Leigh Cook's and Paulo Costanzo's talents are underused, and the actor who played George Sr. in Arrested Development makes only a guest appearance. I hope there will be more good writing like this from Joe Wein.

I picked this movie off the shelf at random and figured, the cast wasn't so bad (judging from the cover) and i had time to spare so why not. When i saw some of the cast not listed on the box i was even more impressed. Anyway, as the movie went on i enjoyed it more and more. I don't think I would ever buy it, maybe not even bother to watch it again, but i am glad i watched it. It was amusing and kept me entertained (something a movie should do). Sure the plot had been done before, and it wasn't super original. But as far as i was concerned it was a solid movie. No slow points, no terrible writing, no stupid special effects. It just wrapped itself up into a convenient little ball and... i got nothing.

Point is, if you are ever looking for a good movie that isn't heavy on the morals and you don't have to concentrate to hard to watch, this is the movie. A good laugh and not a waste of time.

This film is really funny. The hilarious ice cream scene kept us laughing for at least a couple of minutes. Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone and Paulo Costanzo are 3 Bank Employees who rob the bank where they work. They all have their own reasons and act separately from one another but each pulls off his own heist on the same weekend. John Cleese is laugh out loud funny as the evil Mr. Merchant. (His infomercial is hysterical.) There is some classic Cleese comedy here. Woody Harrelson had the audience rolling as he struggles to get into Merchant's house. Rachael Leigh Cooks' fantasy sequences are pretty wild. There are a lot of great laughs in this film. Definitely worth seeing.

It's too bad this isn't more recognized. It's quite funny, and there are golden moments herein. This has plenty of characters... some might say too many, though I would say that a fitting amount of time is spent on them. They are all strange types, and in general this has a lot of that vibe, and, again, there are those who will argue that it goes overboard. The acting is pretty solid, Costanzo is excellent. It may not be the most demanding as far as performances go. The plot is well-written, and certainly never lost my interest. The pacing is fairly even. This has a couple of impeccable surprises. The music is cool. The majority of the jokes and gags work, however, it can cause a loud and reverberating crash when the others fall flat. The DVD of this that I have... R2, if that makes any difference... holds no features. There is rather little language, but it's as strong as it comes. There is no violence, if a bit of the physical comedy can come off as disturbing. Sex goes no further than minor dialog and eye-candy. I recommend this to any fan of anyone involved in creating it. Just be sure that you do not let yourself be exposed to any quirk for a while before watching this, or you may OD on it. 6/10

I have to admit that after ten minutes I was ready to turn off the movie, I'm glad I didn't, it got a lot better and funnier. A good cast with an OK plot and a decent amount of humour. Well worth a try.

I saw this movie at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival with several of the film's main stars in attendance. About an internal bank robbery, the idea is comically interesting, but the screenplay is dull and the acting really fell short. Alicia Silverstone is stuck in airhead-land; Woody Harrelson's attempt at slapstick comedy is just plain goofy; Rachel Leigh Cook overdoes her performance by exaggerating her facial expressions and motorcycle rebel character; finally, Paulo Costanzo was like Jerry Seinfeld trying to be serious. One of the best parts about the film was its opening credits, with one name appearing in the form of a tattoo.

"Scorched" is a silly comedy romp about the antics of a motley bunch of unrelated people in a small desert community who plan to rob the same bank about the same time on the same morning of the same day. On the upside, the film offers a good good cast, plenty of familiar faces, and gets busy and stays busy with slapstick and wackiness all the way to the end. On the downside, it offers no big budget bennies and only squeaks by with a marginal no-brainer screenplay. Watchable though barely recommendable, "Scordhced" isn't a film the players are going to be proud to have on their resumes but should be an enjoyable watch for the less than sophisticated comedy palate, comedy junkies, fans of the players, etc. (B-)

I just watched this comedy just because it contain many of the up and coming stars of the early 2000's.

It hold up pretty well and with a idea stolen from Woody Allen (same bank robbed by two group of people).

Cleese is well Cleese and Woody Harrilson is great at played to the broadness it needs.

The rest of the cast never saw thier carrear go much farther but they all play this with the some fun

Enjoy and see the millennials caper film.

This movie is about three bank tellers who are ready to make drastic changes in their lives and over the same weekend each decide to rob different parts of the bank unbeknownst to each other. If you are a Paulo Costanzo fan you will not be disappointed. His angst about robbing the bank is priceless. He truly steals his scenes. So does Rachael Leigh Cook. As Paulo's roommate she plays a Dungeons and Dragons fanatic who is set on getting revenge on a John Cleese because she bought his get rich quick material after seeing it on an infomercial. Rachael is charmingly impish and is wonderful to watch. I also saw this in Cannes and thought it was the best comedy there.

Boring and laugh-less, this was a real waste of time.

I was expecting something like "Rat Race", but that's not what this was.

Rachel Leigh Cook and Alicia Silverstone were unappealing and, in fact, annoying.

Woody Harrelson and John Cleese, two old comic pros, were unfunny at best, at worst completely tedious.

The only chuckle inducing moment: The line "This is the worst date I've ever been on." The problem is that it also reflected the way I felt about the movie.

Devoid of any hype "Scorched", is one of those movies, which totally takes you by surprise, and I mean this in the best of ways. It reminded me of Nick Gomez's "Drowning Mona", because it is set in a small town, its fresh, off-beat, and very funny. While it may not be everybody's cup of tea, individuals with a liking for fresh comedy will probably lap it up, just like I did. The movie tells the tale of average people who are fed up with the problems of everyday life, and so decide to take their revenge by robbing the local bank, which happens to be their place of work. The movie is well written, and awesomely directed by Grazer. Even the casting works very well, by mixing established, semi-established and young and up-coming actors, which include John Cleese, Alicia Silverstone, Woody Harrelson, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Paulo Costanzo.

'Scorched' tries hard to draw laughter from the viewer and it does succeed in parts but overall it doesn't impress. The pacing is too slow and some of the gags fall flat. The comedy surrounding the heist is quite funny and John Cleese, towards the latter part of the movie, is laugh out loud hilarious. The subplot particularly the one surrounding the grudge Harrelson's character holds against Charles is one of the brighter parts of the movie. Woody Harrelson and Paulo Costanzo act well. Alicia Silverstone makes for sizzling eye candy but her performance is not up to marks. Rachel Leigh Cook is miscast. What 'Scorched' also lacks is style. It is set in a remote desert location but it could have used a little more energy boost. In the end, it makes for a decent one-time watch.

It's astonishing to see how different the world looked merely two decades ago. The American Dream was still alive and well, pop culture was at its peak, and technology was still in its infancy.

This movie is chaotic to say the least. There are funny moments here and there, but it's not laugh-out-loud funny. The cast and set design are exuberant and cheerful. There is a lot of dynamism with the way scenes are shot. It's entertaining.

The story doesn't make a ton of sense. I'm still not sure what happened, but for those who were fond of the early 2000s "look" and culture this movie will be chock full of nostalgia.

Some disgruntled employees independently decide to rob the bank they work for.

This is a simple film with quirky characters and a simple but fun plot.

This is essentially three short entwined stories that culminate in the heist.

There is nothing Earth shattering here just some honest yarns that are very entertaining.

Great performances (Woodie Harrison does some physical comedy that isn't my cup of tea) and it all comes together nicely.

Bad in every way. Unfunny stilted and clumsy. Had to register to this site after using for years just to write this review.

My favorite segment involved two friends who hatch a plan to rob a bank that one of them works at. They steal the money, drive to vegas and bet double or nothing. If they win they will take back the missing 250k and the bank will never find out they were robbed. I loved it because it was both funny and suspenseful, with likable characters.

My least favorite segment involved Rachel Cooke. She has a wacky personality, and has fantasies about dressing up in cosplay and killing people she doesn't like, with a sword. I felt like her storyline was filler. On paper it sounds interesting but the execution was dull. She's just not interesting to watch and looks like a middle school boy.

I recommend this it's a lot of fun to watch

I bought this film new for $2.98 because I had to spend money somehow...I thought it was going to be a poor, lame and dreary pain.

From the opening scene to the very end, I really enjoyed this.

The comedy timing was awesome and the cast was well chosen.

This is a very simple but funny story which is a real treat.

Not overly long on time, it makes up for in humor, and not sick or foul mouthed grade four humor...but natural laughter.

This tops anything with Jim Carrey or any of the American Pie movies or anything with Eddie Murphy, simply because it doesn't try to outdo itself.

It flowed very nice and the timing of it all matched up even though there was 1 flaw...and that was concerning a minor oversight.

For a movie made with a very small budget in terms of movie making, this comes to the top as far as I'm concerned.

And for Rachel Cook...yeah....oh baby...she is sweet in her natural beauty and wearing her super-hero getup in here is definitely not going to make my eyes sore...

Clever, sharp, witty and just awesome.

I'm very happy that I picked it up.

The moment the opening sequence began, the music and visual style of the movie had me. I wasn't expecting anything from the film, so it was a complete surprise to become so hooked on this charming little story.

I would have liked to have seen less of John Cleese, his rehashing of his old Basil Fawlty role was really tired and out of place but I really appreciated the casting in general.

To sum up, I loved this movie. It's hard to put my finger on why, it just appealed to me on lots of levels. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who loved a film like Raising Arizona. Big thumbs up from me.

Definitely recommended. I arrived at this site after searching under the keywords: Alicia Silverstone, Film, Desert and Bank. In other words, although I couldn't remember the name of the film, since there are certain scenes that occasionally come to mind, I thought I'd try to find it. It must be a year since I saw it last - I think that was the second viewing - but I'm quite determined to buy a copy. The only negative point I can remember is with reference to John Cleese whose part was perhaps not entirely satisfying. On the other hand, all the other characters are simply wonderful. I loved the interviews between the bank manager and Alicia Silverstone's character - very, very watchable.

Alicia Silverstone is back in full force here to prove she's no longer just the girl from Clueless.I began watching with an open mind and finished watching with a strong opinion,THIS MOVIE IS EXCELLENT!Run and tell your friends to see this movie so they can see what a jewel this film really is.

I loved this movie! The plot was pretty simple but the quirkiness made it really keep my interest. Note, for example, the shirts worn by the boy with the plane and Doleman. And what to heck is that on the boy's face? Also, watch Doleman's face during the opening credits. And watch the two "Monday" bank scenes closely. Notice any differences? Why was that scene filmed twice (other than the different character perspectives)? Oh yeah, see if anything strikes you as odd about the rubber arrow on Charles Merchant's face during his infomercial. These and other oddities that aren't tied to the plot make it clear that the director/writers/actors enjoyed making the movie which makes it fun to watch. I'd love to know where it was filmed and how accurate the bank temperature display was! It said 94 in the morning and 112 in the afternoon. Details that seem trivial are rarely in a film by accident so the quirks in this film help make it worth seeing a few times.