Pirates of the Great Salt Lake

Pretty lame excuse for a treasure hunt movie. Childish nonsense gives way to total nonsense, in this supposed comedy. The simple minded plot, or lack thereof, is two guys dressed as pirates cavorting all around the "Great Salt Lake". The scenery is far more interesting than the story, and even that eventually wears thin. Watching two nitwits play out their pirate fantasy for almost an hour and a half with nothing more than a couple of chuckles, is not my idea of entertainment. Go back and watch "Dumb and Dumber" if you suddenly get the urge to see a great dumb buddy movie, and avoid "Pirates of the Great Salt Lake" entirely. - MERK

Okay, first off, I LOVE pirates, pirate movies, stories, books, shows, most anything pirate-related, such is why I rented this from Netflix. This movie was entertaining about the first 20-30 minutes, then the story became drab and poorly put together. There was little to no sense throughout the remainder of the film, and despite what has been written in many reviews above, you can tell this was filmed in three weeks, and the script seemed to be written in a lot less time than that. Kirby Heyborne who I've never heard of or seen before, did an excellent job with his performance, even though he had little to work with, and was about the only good thing about this movie. Trenton James gave a more than decent performance as well. As for the rest of the cast, appeared more like friends and family, than actual talented or trained actors. The description is that of "Two Teenagers," but yet neither of the main characters looks even close enough to play a Senior in college, so either the casting was bad, or the description should have been changed. I have a feeling that the majority of the positive comments hailing this film as great, are from people associated with the film, and/or members of the "Free The Pirate" fan club. The "Idea" is good, and I can get past the quality of filming with low-to-no budget films, when the quality of the story is prevalent, this, however, is not one of those cases. As with any opinion on a movie or anything at all, it is just that, an opinion. I still however support filmmakers who want to get their stuff out there, but as well, I support the honesty and criticism of people close to me, and would've hoped those close to the makers of this film, had told them to spend much more time during pre-production before diving in.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I wanted to see it again, and in the end that's what matters. It is a typical low-budget indie film in that some of the acting was average at best but the two leads had a wonderful chemistry and played interesting characters. I wanted to spend time with them and see what happens. The director was good, and while definitely not perfect, you can tell he had a vision and was telling a story he wanted to tell. There is an authenticity which was refreshing, despite the odd premise. There are times it drags and feels like it's lost but no matter where you think it's headed, you'll be wrong. That being said, I found it charming. At its heart it is amusing and there are parts where it's laugh-out-loud funny. If you do NOT enjoy odd characters and quirky comedies, (a la "Lars And the Real Girl", "Napoleon Dynamite", maybe "A Mighty Wind") skip this one. If you like character-driven, unique movie experiences, give it a try.

Pirates on the Great Salt Lake, what a novel idea. The film was clever--an evil pawn broker, two pirates, a worried mother, a gypsy, a detective, and a girl seeking a bad boy. The pirates are of course looking for buried treasure; their dialogue and comic relief was hilarious and they take you to the end of the journey effortlessly. The pawn broker makes an excellent villain. The cinematography was amazing, I never realized the Great Salt Lake was so beautiful, it is breathtaking. The film has a good message and the soundtrack is very well done. I would recommend this film to anyone that liked Office Space, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, or My Name is Earl (TV show).

This is hands down one of the craziest movies I have seen in a long time. It's everything I didn't suspect it would be and then some. I thought it would be some knock-off spoof, but I was surprised. I totally didn't see this coming.

The plot is too far out there to describe, but it's basically a modern version of the Don Quixote story... though still very original. The idea is masterful, and the timing seems perfect. Well written (highly quotable!) and well paced, and the score is surprisingly epic for a low-budget indy. The acting is very strong. There seem to be obvious influences... I would say The Big Lebowski, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Napoleon Dynamite (it stars Trish!)... and it's all so funny.

If there is any justice in this world, this film will find distribution. What else can I say. Go see it!