Dallas 362

...not quite the film that it aspires to be.

First of all, the cast is impressive, but too often they are underfed by the drawn-out story.

The performances are all solid, and Caan succeeds in getting you to be invested in caring about the characters.

However, the story is too thin and the attempts at humor really don't land. The previous poster is correct in that the second half of the film drags, and nothing that happens to the characters will come as a surprise to anyone.

There are clear elements in the story which will remind you of "Good Will Hunting" and "The Slaughter Rule", but the characters and actors all carve out their individual idnetities.

I was a bit surprised by the DVD interviews with the cast where they all talked about what a great script it was and how excited they were to do it.

The greatness that these established actors refer to doesn't show up in the final cut.

Having said that, I have to admire Scott Caan's ambition and belief in his work, which is quite evident. But to write, direct and act in your first film is an enormous undertaking and one that very few people outside of Woody Allen could expect to pull off. Yet, "Dallas 362" has strong elements of Caan's directorial talent on display, which I'm sure that he will continue to develop and expand upon.

If you're expecting a masterpiece in cinema you might be disappointed with Dallas 362. This film doesn't dazzle you with witty one-liners or gratuitous sexual or violent content, it simply tells a story by utilizing a solid script and the tremendous talent of it's cast. Caan and Hatosy are fantastic as a pair of "us against the world" buddies who drink too much, fight too much and aren't quite sure where life is taking them. Even more impressive however is the performance by Val Lauren. His immense talent as a stage actor really comes through in his portrayal of Christian, an overly-neurotic problem gambler who thinks that the world is conspiring against him. Some may find his character annoying, but to me he was absolutely the most enjoyable part of this film. Jeff Goldblum and Kelly Lynch help to round out this brilliant cast and make Dallas 362 a truly enjoyable story. With the proper amount of emotion and real-life dialogue, Scott Caan creates a very unique independent film that does not get the recognition it deserves. If you're a fan of the genre give this one a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised.

In Scott Caan's first feature, Dallas 362, you can see the same thing as was seen in his first play ('Almost Love'), the raw elements of a budding talent. Caan, son of actor James Caan, wrote and directed the deceptively simple buddy movie and in which he also stars along with Shawn Hatosy, Jeff Goldblum, and Kelly Lynch. The film, shot on a low budget on Locations in LA, manages to create a world of its own, and one in which you finally care about these flawed characters, and without falling into any of a number of possible clichés of this kind of filmmaking.

The film follows two close friends, Rusty (played by Hatosy) and Dallas (Caan), who call themselves `brothers' and are constantly becoming involved in bar fights, repeatedly being bailed out of jail by Rusty's mother, played by Kelly Lynch. Rusty wants to grow up but can't seem to break out of this pattern. Goldblum plays the mother's boyfriend who is a therapist and begins seeing Rusty as a favor to his mother. The obvious complications of this triangle come out early and are resolved in a very honest and truthful manner, and Goldblum gives a surprisingly fresh and satisfying performance.

The relationship of the friends is obvious from the beginning, and the fact that you see the problems coming makes them no less compelling. In fact, Caan has succeeded in something that is really quite difficult. As Dallas begins to dabble in ideas of larger crimes, we see coming the time when guns will come out (and they do), but even as it all happens he manages to keep the focus on the characters and not on the action. We care about what will happen to these flawed characters. This is a real strength of this film.

In fact, all of the performances are good here (including a nice turn by Val Lauren). And the film has the great virtue that it is evenly paced and not overly long. Caan manages the tricky task of working on both sides of the camera well, although this is definitely more a movie of characters and performances rather than a cinematic vision. The photography is effective for the story and shows some of the budget constraints, but it also does not call attention to itself. Undoubtedly Caan will develop as a director over time, but this is a very respectable first effort.

If you want a great example of the new wave of pretentious small time hood films, this is it.

It's kind of amazing that anyone could think that an audience would want to sit and listen to this insipid dialogue. That its delivered by actors resembling a first read-through makes it even worse.

This movie is like an Actors Studio session where the worst students are allowed to 'let loose'.

It's worth watching however for Freddy Rodriguez' making a complete ass out of himself. I'd pay anything to see a shot before/after the scenes were shot to hear Caan's guidance.

This movie reeks.

I had the pleasure to see this film at the Toronto Film festival and this was defiantly one of the better screening. I'm not going to give away any of the plot cause you should go see it yourself (if it ever gets picked up). Scott Cann was there to promote the film as was Val Lauren. Although the plot isn't brand new, it's the dialogue and the characters that carry this film. Early on the film establishes the story and really let the actors become their character. Jeff Goldblum's character was my favorite (nice to see him in a non-creepy role) he seems somewhat normal in this film. The dialogue between the two main characters are gut bustlingly funny at times and heart breaking during others.

Scott admitted to the audience after screening that he might not get a US distribution, which is a real shame. Hollywood in the past 15 years of so have rarely put out a film that challenge the mind and makes the audience appreciate the art of film. This film definitely brings some of that art back. It's not perfect (The plot does drag a bit towards the middle) but it's worth the time to see the performance and writing by Scott Cann