Just Add Water

In my opinion, this was a really good film. I particularly liked the way that "country folk" were depicted. The film showed the humorous elements of living in the country as well as a sweeter side of living in the country (living happily without the need for all kinds of material things).

I also liked the way that the love story was depicted. It was the ordinary moments that made their love grow to what it is.

The thing that initially interested me in this movie was that Jonah Hill and Justin Long are in it as well as Danny Devito. As I was watching the film I noticed that one of the characters also stars in "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang" along with Justin Long in a very similar role. It might be another film for you to check out!

Danny DeVito lends his presence to what is essentially minimalist entertainment. The acting and character development are totally acceptable, but the story is very simplistic, and is further weakened by unnecessary voice overs. There are moments of black comedy, romance, and action, but the film suffers from an identity crisis, because none of the above features are very strong, leaving "Just Add Water" with sort of a questionable genre. Marginally recommended for those who like isolated desert towns, with goofy characters. The closest similar movies I can think of would be "Sordid Lives" or "Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me" - MERK

This is a quite enjoyable movie, well-made and pretty much an atmosphere piece, which is extremely formulaic (you'll know everything that's going to happen more than half-way through), but actually succeeds at being the sort of 'heart-warming' stuff that so many films market themselves as and fail at.

The humor is just offbeat enough to be particular, and I was actually quite happy to see that there were practically no pop culture references; this is significant, because for me, this means there's an actual story sustaining itself, rather than 'shout-outs' to the audience's immersion in contemporary culture.

And finally, perhaps most significantly: Jonah Hall, who I have disparaged in other posts, and whose acting I generally dislike, was actually quite good in this film. In other films, I've felt as if he was simply trying to imitate 'Cartman' from Southpark; there is a bit of that in this film, but Hall makes the role his own, and actually becomes a character you really care about, and feel Ray's pride and disappointment in. Perhaps Hall is developing as an actor, or perhaps this movie simply allowed him to do a better job.

This is a pretty nice 'date movie'. One of the only 'feel good' movies I've ever seen that wasn't saccharin and annoying.

This is a light romantic comedy that is very dopey and really not that funny. It has some moderately humorous situations and characters but for the most part this thing is a terrible bore that winds up being a visual montage for Danny DeVito's endless voice-overs. He also has a bit part.

PLOT: Life in Troma, a desert town is kind of a pain in the ass for Ray, his wife is nuts, his kid hates him, his life gets turned upside down and then something interesting happens to Ray, who normally puts up with everything life hands him... it might have something to do with the cashier at the local mart.. what follows is total fluff, a little bit of strained chemistry as our actor tries to portray a heterosexual male and comes up a little short.

Overall it's a bore with a couple of fun scenes here and there -take a peek if you are bored, don't expect much.

This is a satirical romance/comedy about a man who just enjoys the simple things in life and lives in a rundown community run by a meth head teenager. In it there are a couple subtle messages that go without being truly noticed. You will catch them if you are actually paying attention to the characters and their development.

The humor is sometimes dry, useless in some scenes but helps drive the plot line. Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck) is the center piece of this film as Ray, simple, but hopeless man who goes day to day. The cast ensemble includes Melissa McCarthy, Justin Long, Danny DeVito, Jonah Hill who all have smaller roles but ones with substance.

Overall the film doesn't scream laughter or too much in your face romance, it drives home the point about having dreams and being able to dream big enough to see it through. A generally good date movie. I give it 5/10