100 Mile Rule

It has been a minute since I have seen this movie....However, it is still fresh and amazing. Everything about it from the Directing to the Acting to the Script is great!!! Maria Bello is stunning and a totally under rated as an actress...now getting some much deserved recognition from The Cooler. Brent Huff's direction is amazing...what may have been a low budget film comes across like a big budget Hollywood Movie. I highly recommend this film. You will find yourself intently thinking about the subject matter one minute and then rolling on the floor with laughter the next.

"One Hundred Mile Rule" turned out to be better than I expected from the very brief and bland synopsis provided. As a Jake Weber fan, I decided to go ahead and watch it, anyway. The three primary men in this movie get embroiled in a mess and don't quite know how to clean it up. If you read the synopsis, you get the general idea, but this movie only really comes together and gets interesting when the guys try to take matters into their own hands, as you may imagine. Maria Bello is seen in an interesting light, much different from her character on ER. It's not a five-star movie, but it's worth checking out for a good laugh, especially for Jake Weber fans.

I saw this movie at a film festival (Fort Lauderdale) and what a waste of time and money. The only thing going for it is the presence of the beautiful and talented Maria Bello; however, the viewer wonders how someone of her talent got mixed up in a below-average effort like this one. The major problems are a deficient script that couldn't get a passing grade in Screenwriting 101 and what can only be described as amateurish directing.

I saw this movie on Cinemax and could not stop laughing. David Thornton was hilarious.The movie is so funny because it so realistic when it comes to the details of traveling salesmen. Unfortunately, this movie isn't getting the justice it deserves, but perhaps that is due to an audience that is tainted by our "contemporary" concepts of "comedy" that have nothing to do with reality. Anyone who appreciates comedy revolving around everyday mishaps and cheap pathetic traveling salesmen, will find that the day to day humor is undeniably hilarious. The plot is crafty, albeit it is a dark comedy but its subject matter still retains comedic value for most open-minded audiences. Michael McKean performs a perfect portrayal of a mid-level sales streetwise sales manager and perfectly complements Davis Thornton's cheap alcoholic character Jerry. I thought Maria Bello's performance was nothing much more than average, and definitely not nearly as realistic as McKean and Thornton.

This is one of those movies where the quality of the acting is far above the material itself. Michael McKean and David Thornton are joys to watch. Also, though the plot is derivative, it is very knowing about business trips and sales people, and if you've ever been on a business trip, you'll find yourself laughing and nodding at many points. The movie never seemed false or strained, just a little weak at the very end. Up to that point, it's an above average investigation of salesmen gone bad. It's a bit like "Very Bad Things" only played more for comedy than for dark drama. Jake Weber, though British, does a very good job playing an American, something that cannot be said of many of his countrymen.