Pretty Ugly People

I went to see this today at the Laemmle Sunset. I like Missy Pyle, but 15-20 minutes in and she had barely appeared. What showed up instead were an entirely implausible group of "friends" spouting banal, dreary quips about how they still happened to be connected--which I did not buy in the least.

I was pleased that the cameo from the always-marvelous Allison Janney came within those first 15 minutes. It wasn't well-written, but she did the best she could.

After a joke about black people being noticeable in the West because there are so few of them was made not once, but 3 times, I walked out. Life's too short for bad work like this nonsense.

Pretty Ugly People is pretty unremarkable. The set-up and general tone of the movie would suggest a quirky independent romp. It may aim for this title, but it's mostly bland and patronizing. A big lass loses weight and arranges a trip for some friends. They all learn valuable lessons and "discover" themselves. These characters aren't horrible enough for any grand changes, nor or they nice enough to actually like. The protagonist is the biggest bitch of all, allowing her friends to believe she is dying. It's a horrible tactic that only the best writing could salvage a heart from. Unfortunately, such talented scripting is absent here.

36? 38? I mean seriously. We've been watching this movie for 40 years. College 'friends' together and share their horrific personalities with each other. Because not speaking to each other for decades only to jump on a plane for a long weekend in the woods is a thing people do. And especially when they lose 300 lbs to rub in your 'friends' faces. And because all of that is the rational act of sane people, gather up these people to 'share your last 4 lbs weight loss. You know, because no one grows and changes in 20 years. We do gain some insight into the former fat girl though. She's still an angry control freak.

Anyway it pulls every stereotype off the shelf. Uptight Oreo black guy, street black girl, rich douchebag, gay douchebag, friend zone guy, old guy, hillbilly, and of course Melissa McCarthy in her patented hysterical fat girl with borderline personality disorder.

But I tell you it never gets old watching near 40 year olds act like 17 year olds imagining what 30 year olds act like. When do they grow up? 45? 50?

Was the goal here to present a bunch of awful people, with no redeeming qualities, and have them have a near-death experience to humanize them?

Was the goal to show how "ugly" all these "friends" are and have no one realize the error of their ways?

Or was just a swing and a miss on behalf of the studio?

In any case, I kept watching hoping someone would be a good person and no one ever was. They all sucked, they shouldn't be friends and all the interpersonal relationships were based on self-interest. How they got all these amazing actors to take part in beyond me.

I just finished watching this as a rental (It also was available only on DVD, not even Blu-Ray, which is rare these days, even for a movie that went straight to disk, but then it WAS made in 2008).

While I agree with a few of the negative comments made by some who didn't like the film, I also agree with all of the positive comments by those who did, as well. I thought it was a fair amount of fun, if not "laugh-out-loud" funny, and I've always enjoyed Missi Pyle.

I think the fact that this was made BEFORE Melissa McCarthy became a big star and BEFORE Octavia won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "The Help," certainly DIDN'T help make it a more marketable movie for theaters, as all I can find in the way of theater showings is a bunch of film festivals and ONE "limited release" in September 2009, and it doesn't even say WHERE, plus one brief showing in Palm Springs.

William Sanderson, of course, has been around, like, FOREVER (my favorite role for him -- probably his most memorable -- was as the puppet maker in "Blade Runner"). But as a character actor, most folks don't know his name.

I think this is good enough that were it released AGAIN during a slow period of the movie year (like the fall or winter), it could probably have a decent showing -- especially now that Melissa and Octavia are stars. Jeff