Skills Like This

When you go to see an independent film there is a hope that what you will see will be something new, different and entertaining. You hope to discover something. Skills Like This is that kind of film. This is a great movie, I loved all of the characters. The performances are right on and funny. The film moves at times from silly comedy to darker comedy. It does this at all the right times. This movie kept me engaged and pulled me in to the point where I was engaged but not aware of where it would take me next. It is rare bonus to see an indie comedy that makes me laugh and one that I won't soon forget.

4/4

Monty Miranda's "Skills Like This" has more things wrong with it than just its ungrammatical title. In fact, it's about as innocuous as an indie comedy can be without disappearing from the screen entirely.

Set in Denver, the story centers around four buddies with widely divergent personalities who, nevertheless, remain the best of friends; Dave (Gabriel Tigerman), a straight-arrow salesman who hates his job; Tommy (Brian D. Phelan), a wisecracking slacker with an inflated view of his bad-boy toughness; and Max (Spencer Berger), an unsuccessful playwright who finds he has an aptitude for petty thievery and begins to view it as his very own form of artistic expression.

The theme of going outside the law as a means of finding one's identity as an individual is a fairly amusing one at its core, but the movie makers don't really seem to have much of an idea of how to carve an interesting movie out of it. Perhaps, the script by Berger is just a bit too timid, a bit too reluctant to dive head-first into the realm of slashing satire or hard-hitting black comedy to register much of an impact, settling for feel-good, pseudo-Robin Hood pablum instead. That's a shame, seeing as how most of the actors reveal at least some degree of talent that the material gives them little opportunity to show off for the audience.

I found this film to be fun and engaging from beginning to end. The secret formula: interesting characters that push along the plot in unexpected directions. No amount of special effects or brilliant cinematography can beat the unique combination of honesty and criminal behavior find in the "Max" character. The supporting characters are strong as well. Max's friends Tommy and Dave balance their trio nicely, providing distinct points of view on what motivates them, why they do what they do. The film uses these three to reflect on what makes a life meaningful. With snappy editing that never feels overwrought, but keeps the story moving, I never got bored.

A festival winner! (and should be)

I saw this film at the SXSW film festival in a packed house... I didn't have high expectations... honest, I was with a group of people who wanted to go because they liked the afro marketing posters and I wasn't in a mood to go against the grain.

Yippee... I so enjoyed the film. I thought it was unpredictable... raw... funny... engaging... I actually felt connected to the characters and these aren't the kinds of characters that I normally find engaging. It was a surprise at every turn. I found the humor appealing as did the high school kids who were behind me. This film is a rare treat with brilliant performances from the leading man to the waitress with only a few lines.

Great job and good luck with distribution!

Why would the writer(s) put the idiotic "Tommy" character in?! Why the dying grandpa?! I like this film. I'd _really_ like it if there wasn't so much stupid involved.

While I'm complaining, the sound mix is pretty bad. One last bit of advice to the producers: Please zoom in a little more; while I could easily see the molecules of the characters' faces during closeups, the atoms were hard to discern. ;^)