American Love

Knots is a clever portrayal of the modern day urban relationship and love triangle genre. It is both poignant and relevant and effectively portrays a range of viewpoint and emotion relating to how people interact with each other both in and out of relationships and how people come face-to-face with their own demons. Scott Cohen and Annabeth Gish give strong performances. John Stamos is brilliant with his character portrayal of a care free womanizer (I can hands down say this is his strongest work that I have seen to date) and the rest of the cast does an overall strong job of rounding out the movie. I thought the movie was well written and directed with a crisp, thorough understanding of mood, pacing and the genre as a whole. Greg Lombardo does a masterful job of allowing the characters to evolve in a way that feels very natural and then gets out of their way allowing them to follow their own path to meaning and discovery. Overall, I think this a meaningful comedy with a strong message that shouldn't be missed.

It all begins with a bored married couple moving to Manhattan, huge happy faces on every box.

In an incredibly funny film about relationships (Director Greg Lombardo describes it as a comedy about our search for connection and the romantic disasters we survive along the way), Scott Cohen finds out painfully that his marriage is in trouble, and things unravel and ravel and unravel again from there. I have a feeling that quite a few quotes will end up here after the film gets a general release.

Paulina Porizkova, as a vixen with an evil grin who seems to enter the fray from all sides, is the big surprise, as she creates a supporting role deserving of an Academy Award nomination.

Also great are John Stamos, Annabeth Gish, and Tara Reid. I want the DVD now! Edit: I've got it!

"Knots" a predictable sex comedy from director of no note, Greg Lombardo. It is short on both sex and comedy, but is almost worth watching because A) John Stamos is actually good in it. B) You get to see Ric Ocasek's hot, Czech wife naked and C) Tara Reid surprisingly doesn't suck in it. The down side? The sex is totally tame and it's really not very funny. The rest of the cast is serviceable. Scott Cohen (from The Gilmore Girls) and Annabeth Gish (from The West Wing) play are bored married couple and Paulina Porizkova plays a vixen that reaps hell into their lives for no good reason at all, but ultimately we don't really care about any of the characters as the screenplay limps to it's obvious, group hug conclusion. "For No Good Reason At All". That would have been a good tag line for "Knots". You have been warned.

I saw this movie one night on Lifetime television and I found myself actually enjoying it. Scott Cohen is funny and sincere as Dave, a man who finds himself in the middle of a love triangle between his sexually confused wife, Greta (played with honesty Annabeth Gish), and a very sexy "omnisexual" lawyer, Lily (played with wicked sexiness Paulina Porizkova). Meanwhile, Dave's philandering friend Cal (John Stamos) is cheating on his long-time girlfriend, Emily (Tara Reid...yes...she is actually ACTING!). Another friend named Jake (a funny performance by Micheal Leydon Campbell) has his own woes with finding the right girl because she always ends up in bed with Cal until he finds himself falling in love with Emily. I loved how in spite of the script having a few flaws and even having some outrageous moments the film wraps up in a sweet happy ending with Paulina Porizkova leaving the scene with that wickedly sexy smile and a wink. Wonderful performances by the actors and well written script.

Knots is a funny, sexy and entertaining movie about six thirty-something characters experiencing life and love in NYC. Credit must be given to the co-writer/director, Greg Lombardo, for making this diverse group of actors a believable set of friends and lovers. John Stamos just about steals the movie. This role is clearly the precursor to his new TV series which even borrows the name "Jake" from one of the characters in Knots. Stamos' looks, charm and winning smile are used to great effect. Paulina Porizkova was a wonderful surprise. Having not seen or heard anything about her in a number of years, she is well-cast as the story's sexy catalyst. Scott Cohen and Annabeth Gish are a married couple with a very real relationship that gets played out on a number of levels. Michael Leydon Campbell is sweet as Jake, the underdog. Credit also goes to the director/producers for casting Tara Reid against type. Set primarily in Brooklyn with some action in Manhattan, the homes and offices look realistic and lived in; you feel like you could hang out there and enjoy spending time with these interesting and quirky characters. The movie is well-written; the story is moved along by a couple of unexpected twists and turns, including the ending, and the dialog has some great repartee and one-liners. A very enjoyable and worthwhile 90 minutes. Check it out.