Kabluey

Quirky and unexpected are probably the best ways to describe this film. Lisa Kudrow is actually pretty convincing as the burned-out army wife and gives a pretty solid performance throughout. Mainly I was impressed at the subtlety of her acting, which was refreshing after seeing some of her other characters (the smelly-cat-singing Phoebe will always be a lingering specter for Kudrow). Scott Prendergast captured the socially-inept, guy-that-never-got-his-act-together-after-high-school character pretty well and manages to drive the story with very little actual dialogue, emotion or expression, which is kind of the point of his character. His performance was actually pretty refreshing. I think the writer/director did a good job of portraying the embellished strangeness of small town middle America without ripping off Napoleon Dynamite. The ending was well done and the soundtrack is really good and kind of makes the movie come together.

I saw Kabluey, and after hearing many good things about it, I have to say it probably is one of 2008's best surprises.

Technically, it is from 2007, but it came out this year. It is a very genuine little independent comedy with a lot of heart. There are a lot of films like that out there, but this one stands out. The screenplay is very well written. It has a lot of laugh-out-loud laughs, and some laughs that you wonder how much they make sense with the story. It has some flaws, but overall, it has great developed characters, characters that sometimes may not always be likable. It is a story about how a mother's brother-in-law has to help her raise her kids, and also raise some money, since her husband is at war in Iraq. Throughout this story, we see a lot of events that change her and her brother-in-law. It is, overall, a black, sometimes, dark, comedy film. It has a lot of hidden themes about how the war impacts family, and also about loyalty and responsibility. It is sometimes uneven, and sometimes some scenes are too overfilled with humor, but when its good, it's really good.

Part of the reason this film works well is because of the great acting. Scott Prendergast plays his character of the loser brother-in-law Salman very well, and he makes my line-up of Best Actor(but will eventually fall out). But Lisa Kudrow is the one that gives the monumental performance. She has less scenes than Prendergast, but the scenes she has her character is very in depth. She has to give her character of Leslie a lot, real humanity, pain and exhaustion for her kids, and also sort of depressed, stressed, and sometimes even unlikeable. She really reminds me of a lot of real life mothers that get stressed out easily. I have never seen Kudrow like this, it's really a great performance, a subtle one. As of now, she is my Best Actress winner, and I think she might stay in my line-up in the end of the year, if not then top 10 for sure. I think she deserves Oscar Buzz.

Overall, a great little movie. Better than films that really are not always that good(Juno), and just as great as Little Miss Sunshine. I think the Academy should keep this film's screenplay, and Lisa Kudrow, for consideration. For those who have not seen it, please see it, makes a lot of the films this year look bad.

Saw Kabluey at the Austin Film Festival last eve, and walked out loving the film. Logically, I know it shouldn't be surprising to see a low-budget film capture characters that are so real, and yet do parody and comedy so well. Kids sitting behind me laughed at all the same spots I did. It manages to stay in the realm of indy-odd, but deliver a well-crafted plot line, and characters that you love. A sprinkling of well recognized actors who give great performances...loved Conchata Ferrell. Scott Pendergrass holds it together through the entire film.

Scott Pendergrass afterward said there might be an announcement coming next week at the Hamptons festival, so hopefully it will sign a distribution deal. This film deserves to be widely seen.

My favorite kind of films have often been small, independent gems like this one, films that are the unique visions of under financed directors and not the bloated studios.

First, Lisa Kudrow. I liked Friends, but I wasn't crazy about it. That's why she was such a surprise to me here. Her character is initially unlikeable, but once you see why she does the what she does, she becomes sympathetic. Her scene when she walks away from the motel room fight is fantastic. She's hurt, her life is crumbling, and you feel for her. She's hateful and funny, a really good performance.

And newcomer Scott Prendergast, co-star, writer and director does a unique turn here as the black-sheep weirdo who becomes a kind of superhero that saves the family. I can't wait to see what he does next.

If you're expecting some stupid comedy, skip this and rent Mall Cop. If you want something unexpected, unusual and funny, give Kabluey a shot.

I had really thought great slapstick comedy was a lost art, one that I'd have to go to DVD's of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd to experience. Then I saw "Kabluey." For the first half of the film I was laughing my head off, not only at the sheer outrageousness of it all but also at Scott Prendergast's brilliance at building gag on top of gag, making you laugh harder at each one until by the end of his "stack" you're literally screaming with joy. The second half slowed down a little but also proved that Prendergast could do pathos, and the ending is as heartbreaking as anything by Chaplin. There've been a few comedians in the modern era who showed they COULD have ranked with the stars of the past (Robin Williams, Jim Carrey), but Williams got stuck into too many overstuffed vehicles and Carrey seems to have been penalized by his audience every time he tried to reach beyond fart humor. Let's hope Scott Prendergast keeps making simple, unpretentious and utterly hilarious movies like this.