Shut Up and Sing

I had the opportunity to see this film at the 2006 HBO Comedy Film Festival in Aspen, and went into the screening with very little expectations. When the last scene faded out on the New York City landscape, there was a brief moment of silence and then everyone leapt out of their chairs into a standing ovation. The clapping didn't stop until finally Bruce Leddy and the producer Eliza Steel came up to the front for the question and answer session. I don't know much about the film industry or these festival screenings, but I thought people were supposed to be asking questions - instead people took turns standing up and outright praising them for the experience they had during the film. I have to agree with that sold out audience - it was absolutely fantastic. Not only was the script incredibly written and the acting spot on, but the film reaches deep inside all of us and literally pulls at your heart strings. This intelligent comedy does what most movies fail to do which is to connect with all of the human emotions involving relationships from the very highs to the very lows. At the end of the movie, I think the reason everyone was silent for a moment before they jumped up to clap was because they were not ready for it to end! I can not wait for this movie to hit theaters so everyone has the privilege to take this journey with this group of friends to the Hamptons and learn a lesson about life and love that will make both men and women laugh and cry. It is no wonder that the movie ended up winning the Audience Award at the festival.

Quasi-musical that will largely appeal to white, affluent, male New Yorkers. Several old college buddies who used to sing a capella reunite for a pal's wedding in the Hamptons (which right there tells you something about the target audience). Some time has passed since they last saw each other. Some have matured and changed, some have not. The cast is mostly appealing, if way too thin and good-looking (so much so that you might think you're watching a reunion of a group of gay friends). The musical interludes are the best parts of the film, by far. Some of the dialog (including a "seize-the-moment" speech by one of the way-too-thin and good-looking wives) and situations (finding a hooker for a divorced buddy) are cringe-inducing. Hey, but this is a low-budget indie, after all. The biggest name in the cast is ex-SNL member Molly Shannon, who plays a boisterous, occasionally crude wife whose schlemiel of a husband couldn't be any more different. Some of you may recognize Mark Feuerstein, who starred in a TV show called ROYAL PAINS and is presently appearing in a theatrical release, KNUCKLHEAD. Except for Shannon, the cast looks like it was put together from Broadway plays and TV soap operas. No fatties or uglies allowed, thank you very much. Oh, for the hetero guys who catch this, keep an eye out for Elsa the 23-year-old Swedish nanny. Also way too thin, but she does love sex.

Watchable, but OK to watch once and forget about. While the acting was decent, the premise was just not believable or worth caring about. Would you really fly across the country to attend/perform at the wedding of a man you loathe? The stock 'jerky right wing guy' character's "life-changing event" was so out of left field and then seemingly an afterthought :10 later. I can't figure out to whom this story was supposed to appeal. Too man-centric to appeal to women, too touchy-feeley whiny to appeal to most men. My only guess is "married closeted gay men," a very small demographic, which could go towards explaining the lack of commercial success. Molly Shannon was fun, the cast were decent eye candy, and the singing, though presumably overdubbed, was excellent. Fellas, watch it w/ your female significant-other to appease her after 3 or 4 nights of heavy doses of sports on the tube.

I never review movies, but this movie got on my nerves so bad, I felt compelled to write about it. You may think me unfair to rate a movie so harshly after only seeing 20 minutes of it, but that was all it took to see that the dialog was horrendous (i.e. pretentious, annoying, irritating and unbelievable.) I wonder if the screenwriter was purposely making the characters douche bags, or if he thought he was making them hip and cool. The acting was not great, but it may, again, be the fault of the script. I would never be friends with people like this, and therefore, had no absolutely no interest in investing myself in their lives for one more minute.

I had the opportunity to go to the Gen Art film fest this year, and must say this movie was my favorite. It is like the feel good-movie of year. I love how the movie makes me laugh, while really plucking on my heart strings at the same time. Unlike many recent films, this movie was sincere and did not rely on special effects or political plot lines to keep your attention. My friends and I could not get those modern acappella covers out of our heads. Whether it was John Mayer or Ben Folds or Phil Collins or Frank Sinatra, this movie features songs for every taste. The movie really leaves you with a smile on your face, and for the first time in awhile you are actually entertained. Try to see it and look forward to the soundtrack.