New Suit

I was in New York and saw this film at the GenArt festival. I didn't know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised with this smart comedy. With the kinds of movies the studios are releasing, it's refreshing to see such a well made, fun and entertaining indie film. The characters are hilarious, with an especially funny depiction of a desperate Hollywood producer by Dan Hedaya. The audience loved it and I was glad I got to see the film.

I came to a screening of NEW SUIT with a friend, and I was just blown away. I knew nothing at all about it beforehand, and afterwards I was just happy. It's kind of a feel-good satire. It's kind of like "The Player" and "Swimming With Sharks" but with more jokes, and snappier dialogue than "Swimming With Sharks" and no dead bodies. It's more fun and not as dark as those movies. I recommend seeing this one strongly. You won't regret it. The story itself sounds deceptively simple. Guy comes to Hollywood. He wants to be a writer and he ends up with a lame job as an assistant. He's really not happy. He plays a trick on his friends and tells them that there's a new script they have to read called "The New Suit" by a guy called Jackson Strawberry. The joke is that there is no script and no author. Very quickly, those friends tell their friends, and it runs out of control very quickly.

Soon everybody's talking about "The New Suit" and this mystery writer. It gets to a point where people are trying to buy this fake script. I won't spoil the ending, but it's really unexpected.

I said that it's deceptively simple, because there's a lot going on here. First of all the movie is fast. It moves very quickly. The dialogue and characters are sharp, and nasty and absolutely dead-on hilarious. the movie never stoops to cater to the lowest common denominator. you've got to pay attention because things start to happen so quickly and the movie doesn't explain everything. You've got to figure it out. New Suit has a great look. I saw it projected in a wide-screen format and it was really rich. I recognized some of the actors (Dan Hedaye), but all of them were fantastic - across the board. The two leads (Marisa Coughlan and Jordan Bridges) were very charismatic. They were familiar to me but this movie really shows their capabilities. There's also Paul MCrane from ER. And you'll be surprised by his performance. And Heather Donahue from The Blair Witch Project has a supporting role, and she proves herself here. Dan Hedaye is raw and sleazy and scary here - an excellent performance as good as anything I've seen him do. But really, the acting is solid here. The music was very cool. Editing is quick. Its well-directed, but I did get dizzy at one point (you'll see what I mean). But mostly you're just going to laugh. Some of the jokes are set up way in advance and I had to laugh out loud, and I never do that. The dialogue was just sharp and youve met all of these characters before. I did get a little confused at one point and I will say that the movie starts out like a typical Hollywood story, and you feel like you've seen this before, and then it kicks in and surprises you. Overall you leave the theater feeling good. It's a fully-realized satire and I strongly recommend it. If you like your comedy with a brain, you'll like it a lot.

NEW SUIT is a pure delight,starring Jordan Bridges, (son of Beau & grandson of Llyod & nephew of Jeff Bridges) He looks likes his Dad & has the charm & talent of all three.

This is a comic satire about Hollywood writers, agents & producers. The plot & story are not new, But the entire cast (mostly unknowns to me at any rate) are all well cast.

It is definitely worthwhile to rent along with another film to make a nice double feature.

In fact if this were 40 or more years ago, this would be a co-feature

My only criticism is the music, This problem has been occurring much lately where we have the actors speaking & music is playing as loud as they are talking. WHY WHY WHY.

Do not however, let this gripe stop you from seeing this.

my rating is ***/4 81 points/100 IMDb 7/10

I just saw this film screened in Aspen, CO last week. Had no expectations (I walked into the wrong screening room!) and loved this movie. I wish I knew when/if it will be released so I can tell my movie-loving friends to see it.

I have seen plenty of trite comedies (you too?) so when something unique comes along it really grabs me. Interesting visual effects, great comic acting, groovy music, colorful sets, snappy dialogue, swift pacing, a plot that was complex enough to keep surprising me without totally confusing me. All the actors are "characters" -- except maybe the lead actor. Initially, I was afraid the the "back-stabbing ex-girlfriend" would be just like every other nasty bitch you've ever seen in the movies -- but despite her selfishness and lack of ethics, I found myself liking this perky blonde schemer. I also worried that the hero would be to perfect, too squeaky clean. Not quite.

Unlike some other "behind the scenes in Hollywood" films, New Suit doesn't suggest that Hollywood is evil. These B.S. artists are really driven by a fear of failure or of looking like failures. So you feel a little sympathetic even as you laugh at these clowns trying to cover their hind ends and puff themselves up. And that's not just a Tinseltown syndrome.

For techies: I heard this movie was 'filmed' in high definition digital video using the same "24p" (24 frames per second) technology that George Lucas used for the new Star Wars movie.

New Suit, which opens tomorrow, I had the chance to see on the Fox lot last year. Having been around and developing several screenplays, I can honestly say that this film looks to have been written by someone who has gone through some of the exact same things.

While certainly some of the comedy falls short, because comedies aren't easy to do, Jordan Bridges plays a pretty good "new guy" just starting out in the biz who has high hopes, yet are dashed by how he sees that films are really picked.

Most ' angry film students' who lived in fantasy land, like I once did, won't really appreciate the humor because they are dealing mostly with the microcosm of film school where they can do what they like (like the previos reviewer). That said, I do think that much of the films humor may be lost on a non-industry crowd, so I don't know where this film's future lies. Needless to say, I enjoyed it. (The side characters of the junior executives is dead on.)

Certainly photographed and cut like any other comedy released by a major studio, New Suit may not leave a big mark on anyone, but it's worth a look.

pJ