Julie and Jack

It's a date movie directed by the guy who made Birdemic, except it sucks.

I had high expectations going into this movie. Now, I don't mean that I was expecting a masterpiece work with an enthralling story or superb acting, but I love bad films. About a week ago, I had the privilege of viewing the masterpiece work "Birdemic: Shock and Terror" and I absolutely loved every minute of it. It was one of the best so-bad-it's-good movies I have ever seen, and I've seen quite a few. It left me begging for more, and so I looked up the man behind it all, James Nguyen, on IMDb and it was there that I discovered "Julie and Jack." This movie was pretty obscure and difficult to get my hand on, but I eventually got the DVD and watched it last night. When I popped the DVD in, I was expecting horrifying editing, hilariously bad acting and dialog, and a completely ridiculous story based on what I had previously seen from Nguyen's "Birdemic." I went in with very high expectations for entertainment and very low expectations for production value, and what this movie delivered was somewhere in the middle.

The movie began and even from the opening scenes I could tell that the editing and acting were a step above my expectations. Not a very huge step, mind you, but definitely a noticeable one. The editing was more amateur than it was awful, and the delivery of lines was actually quite decent at some points. These elements gave the film more of an "extremely low budget" feel than an "oh my god what were these people thinking" feel. It almost felt like watching an amateur short film on the internet rather than an actual film. These elements of the film aren't really "so bad it's funny" or "so bad it's bad," you just know that the acting, editing, and overall production isn't very good and most of the time you can just ignore it, or at least get a few small laughs at certain points.

So basically after a few scenes I was able to grasp that it was just a mediocre production and I probably wasn't going to be getting most of my entertainment from the overall bad production, so I tried to concentrate on the actual story. The thing about this story is that it's not great, and it's not awful; it's not enthralling, nor is it so bad that you can laugh at it. In terms of just the story and nothing else, I would probably place this movie more on the good end of the spectrum than the bad. It's actually kind of an interesting take on the standard romance story. It starts off pretty standard, but a small ways in you're presented with a small twist that gets the main conflict of the story going, and in one final twist you get the resolution. During that second part and the main conflict of the film, I actually found myself interested. Without giving too much away, Julie obviously has some big secret and I actually found myself pretty interested in finding out what the secret was. They eventually do reveal it, and it is a tad bit cliché, but I was satisfied enough and at least it made sense. Julie's own explanation is one of the weirder, more sci-fi parts of the movie, and it's a bit strange, but nothing worth praising or complaining about.

Overall, it really just comes down to what you're expecting to get out of the movie. If you're expecting a spectacular, tear-jerking love story, you'll be disappointed. If you're expecting a masterpiece work of awful film similar to Birdemic, you'll be disappointed. I was the latter of the two, but instead of becoming disappointed I adapted how I was looking at it to meet somewhere in the middle of those two options, and I was left with a watchable film. If you see any of the interviews Nguyen has done, you can tell that he's just a man who's passionate about making movies. He works a day job five days a week to fund his filmmaking on the weekends. He's pretty much just an average guy, and this film was just the result of an average guy doing his best to make a decent flick. In my opinion, that's pretty respectable, and the movie itself is definitely watchable. With how rare it is, I guess it's not worth jumping through a ton of hoops to try to get to see it, but if you're ever given the opportunity, this movie might be worth checking out. With all of the acclaim that Birdemic is getting, and with Birdemic 2 on the way, maybe enough interest will get generated in Nguyen to give this movie a bigger release. If that happens, I think any open minded movie fan could enjoy this film at least a little bit.

Former computer chip salesman Nguyen creates a film about a romantically challenged computer chip salesman who finds love with a virtual reality woman. A concept that might have produced a decent film in the hands of an even marginally talented director and cast, but this bunch makes Ed Wood and his merry band of loonies and drunks look like the Royal Shakespeare Comapany. Justin Kunkle (Jack) has a total of 3 credits. Jenn Gotzon (Julie) left acting to become the Queen of the Christian Movies. And Nguyen was just warming up with this snooze fest, going on to the immortal Birdemic and Birdemic 2. Watchable only when being being mocked by the boys at Rifftrax.

I saw someone compare the director to Ed Wood, but no. Ed Wood was ignorant regarding what makes a good film (and in general--see how he talks about "primitive" people in Glen or Glenda), but I've seen his films and this director's, and I can at least say Ed's were more interesting and ambitious. He tried and dared a lot more than James does. How many times must we retread awkward, boring software salesmen (representing himself) giving absurd discounts and romancing vapid blondes? How many times must the female lead wear Asian dress and the couple go sightseeing? How many times must the director shoehorn in Hitchcock references? Props to James for making his films semi-diverse (there are never any minority leads, just cameos or minor characters); so, that's at least one advantage over Ed. For all Ed's daring in his era, he didn't really cross racial lines like James does.

ETA: Upon watching it again, I have to say that even though the two leads are not good actors in this, they have chemistry, and there's something sweet about Jack. He doesn't seem to be too bright, nor does he seem to be good at anything (aside from some pretty good detective work), but the character is a patient and kind guy with an endearing earnestness. (He's also good-looking.) Also, you can see the leads really trying hard to give it their all. For all the awkwardness and the terrible execution, at least the actors play off of each other WAY better than the leads in Replica. In Replica, the actress is worse than the actors in this film, but she has a charm to her even in her vapidness. If she'd be placed opposite someone like the main actor in this film, I would have been able to buy the Replica couple being together. But I digress. It's still not good, but I can give the movie that much. And there is a message in this one somewhere. Also, I've seen far, FAR worse movies recently that make this film look like a Best Picture contender by comparison, so it's softened my view somewhat.

This is below a B movie. Some of the dialog was okay, and a few of the actors impressed me, but the plot, directing, cinematography and editing were atrocious. It looks like a homemade movie gone wrong. Perhaps we have a future Ed Wood at work here, yet I wouldn't count on this one becoming a cult classic.