The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest

Not that it was in the 'so-bad-it-was-good' category (though close in some ways), but it wasn't the cinematography, or the dialog or anything of that sort that I liked. What did it for me were things like the sneaky insertion of some good concepts, and topics I'd thought about years ago but didn't believe anyone else ever had.

Back in 1985 I was thinking about a cigarette-box-sized computer with holographic display and voice i/o, while frustratedly assembling 256k(!) 8088 machines with full-height 5-1/4" 10MB(!) hard-disks and 12" amber CRT displays. I didn't think of the space-touch interface, but hey that was almost 20 years ago.

Where these guys really shone was in their 'when life serves up lemons, make iced tea because everyone else will be making lemonade' approach to problem-solving. It's like looking at a boating magazine and seeing an idea that helps you with a home design. Synergistic cross-pollination beats idea theft and cro-magnon style greed in this film and that's refreshing no matter what vehicle it's riding in.

Anyway, that's my 2¢ worth.

I enjoy the writing of Po Bronson, with Bombardiers being right up there with Catch-22 as one of the funniest books I have ever read. I remember enjoying The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest as well, although I think I keep confusing it with Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. When I saw this movie was playing on Showtime, I had no idea that it was made into a movie. I guess it was only released in L.A. and New York in 2002. Well, it's certainly a cheeseball interpretation of the book, with sub-par writing by Jon Favreau, who adapted the screenplay. But, being a movie about the dot-com generation, I can't resist. It's not horrible, and having Rosario Dawson cast as the female lead certainly doesn't suck.

Boy, the reviews of this film are terrible, but I think it was a fun movie, with clever characterizations and satire. Okay, it's not a top-notch film, but come on, it's a blast to watch, and does not deserve such evil comments that have been made. I think Adam Garcia keeps the movie running smoothly with an amiable personality. Farce is a tough nut to make, so I guess people can't handle some of the silliness. But this film is not as bad as many are led to believe.

Are you kidding me? Jon Favreau wrote the screenplay for this movie? ::shaking head:: Jon, what were you thinking?! This movie is predictable and sophomoric, and the characters are shamefully stereotyped. I get the feeling they were aiming for Revenge of the Nerds, but ended up with Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love. It's a shame that I'll never get that 105 minutes of my life back.

As *Ron Smolin* points out in his comment (July 17th, 2003), this isn't a movie that's going to change your views on the universe. It's pretty Disney formatted: good wins versus evil; the handsome & smart hero gets the handsome & smart girl; even fat people and small people and foreigners and geeks can get a beautiful, SLIM girl (of course, not the other way around); and making money's OK, if it lands in the pockets of the heroes). All those imperatives are there like on a menu for the movie that won't hurt anybody's principles...

That said, there are moments to be enjoyed, some nice ideas in the production design, even a little self irony (rather shy, but you can spot it if you pay attention...). The actors, especially the "geek-team" and most other supporting roles, really do a very good job (they actually helped me get over the too perfect, too tasteless "Andy" character, played by the otherwise very capable Adam Garcia).

It's really like a movie for early teens that can entertain grown-ups as well - and doesn't pretend to be anything else.

Perfectly OK for harmless entertainment. And for that little dreamy delight we can experience when we manage to forget that, most of the time, the world is a much more cruel and complex place than it is in this movie...