Awful Nice

Sometimes a story played out on film serves as a motivator or is inspiring or just plain entertaining, however in the case of the independent film Awful Nice, I am still attempting to categorize it. The story begins with Jim (James Pumphrey) retrieving his younger brother Dave (Alex Rennie) to return home and attend the memorial services for their recently deceased father. The condition and location in which Jim finds Dave was the first indication that somebody has issues. This film did something that has never happened to me before, I laughed uproariously at some very funny sequences, but once the film was over I was left feeling unfulfilled. Usually if it is a good comedy, the emotion elicited is upbeat and cheery but not with this film. The characters Dave and Jim both reminded me of how competitive brothers can be having grown up in a household with three brothers myself, but the incessant arguing and fighting was just too much. I continuously asked myself if Jim is the smart one why does he keep following advice from Dave. And then you realize that after a while some of the lunacy starts to make some sense. I do wonder what inspired writer Alex Rennie to create this outlandish road trip, brothers bonding story, and whether the character Dave was based in part on Alex's own life. The reason that I ask this question is because Mr. Rennie was so convincing with his particular kind of crazy as Dave. He was quick witted, rationalized everything from a spoiled brat point of view and took no responsibility for anything in his life all while guilting Jim into mindless submission. Mr. Rennie is either a really good actor or he really is Dave. I've never been to Branson, but there was a huge inference that it is overrun with Russian Mafia and prostitution, which is the world that Jim and Dave's father's business partner seemed to be very much a part of. Since I watch a lot of Law and Order reruns it was easy to spot Christopher Meloni (Jon Charbineau) in spite of the mustache, the horrible accent, and the worse wig ever. He did a great job of portraying a sleazy businessman not that he did anything that was sleazy, he just really looked the part. I still do not know what the title related to, I suppose they used Awful Nice because My Idiot Brother was already taken.

Very funny movie especially if you have a dumba** little brother. It started out the second scene with Dave eating a Deep Fried Breaded Pork Loin Sandwich if you are from Middle America you probably know what I am talking about. It's one of the few things I miss about the Midwest and it looked wonderful. I thought the relationship between the brothers was a lot of fun and yes the fighting was predictable and over the top but I was thoroughly entertained by the ridiculous behavior. There are some very funny and kinda dirty shout outs to the "Wild Things" movie. Christopher Meloni is great as the squirrel loving not so legitimate business partner of Dave and Jim's dearly departed father. Toss in Branson Russian Mafia, prostitutes, a lot of alcohol and a bunch of other silly stuff. Don't take it (or yourself) too seriously and you will have a good time.

Overall, the brothers show us a good time, sometimes silly, sometimes serious and often funny. They get along better in some scenes than they do in others, and sometimes they want to kill each other. And I was very grateful this was on broadcast TV, because the sound went out so often (along with the speaker's mouth being blurred) it was sometimes hard to follow what was going on, but I really don't think I would want to hear what I missed. I mean I really didn't.

Sheriff Wegman and Deputy Bruce play "good cop, bad cop". Both cops play both parts, but Bruce is funnier. And dumber.

I think Ivan is the man Jim decided to hire to fix up the cabin when the brothers realized they were The Three Stooges ("That's coming out of my half" "That's coming out of your half."). Also, I recognized the voice of Yakov Smirnoff but didn't realize that was really him until the credits.

The cabin is too much of a dump so they rent a motel room from another guy who is quite a character. No, I don't know his name.

You have to stay around for the closing credits. Not just because of all the funny stuff in the credits themselves (I have never seen some of the wacky stuff that was done), but also the great musical performance on the left side of the screen. I hesitate to call it bluegrass not only because I'm not sure you can have drums in bluegrass, but also because Dr. Ralph Stanley once said what he does is old time, not bluegrass. It's actually a nice polished but heavily traditional sound with fiddles and banjo.

It's not a bad movie if you can see it cleaned up.

Could be the funniest film I've seen in 5-6 years...

Like it consistently killed me with laughter, to the point that I actually missed things because I was laughing so hard.

The relationship of the brothers hinges on perfection and the dialogue is snappy with a consistent edge of hilarity.

Not sure how it hasn't become a word of mouth hit like Foot Fist Way or Wet Hot American Summer. I suppose that's more a sign of the times than anything else, but seriously, this movie is friggin' hilarious.

I don't get why it has so many poor ratings. I laughed from start to finish, and didn't find anything offensive or hard to follow or frustrating or whatever. No qualms with this flick at all. Just good times, and the kept rolling.

Everyone should run to their Netflix and watch this movie.

I have a brother. I can understand how some people who don't may not quite get all of the humor or the dialog or how things can escalate from talking to fighting in less than 5 seconds, but if you do have a brother (or a sister I suppose), then this movie will feel all too familiar to you. And in a good way. It's some of the most realistic sibling rivalry I've seen in a movie, combined with some of the most unrealistic and absurd comedy. But it's great absurd comedy so you just kind of go with it. The movie does a really nice job of balancing physical gags with clever banter, and I found myself quoting it a bit after-wards (that's always a good sign). A rocking soundtrack combined with the breakneck pace of the editing and each gag coming one after another, and the whole movie sort've flies by. On one hand, that can be a good thing, as you never want to be waiting around for a movie to end. Comedies that are too long often leave a sour taste in my mouth. On the other hand, there isn't much of a build-up to, or culmination of, a resolution between the brothers, and that was a little unfulfilling. Other than that, I loved everything about this movie, and I think it'll find a huge audience when they release it. I'll be seeing it again.