Stevie D

As indies go, this IS AN INDIE for sure. By that I mean it is easy to see that there were budget constraints and maybe more time could have been spent editing in some spots. But overall, this film hits the mark, tells a good story with likable, well written characters brought to life by a solid ensemble cast.

At the opening of the film, I was concerned that I was going to be subjected to 2 hrs of a predictable, mafia-trope-laden tale of caricature bad guys from the East Coast doing and saying "down and dirty" East Coast things (in LA). While there were elements of this (strip clubs, the uber-machismo of the film's antagonist and his legion of sycophantic followers) the story quickly settled into an engaging and charming ride for the audience.

In the end, this is a wonderful film. Chris Cordone scores the proverbial hat trick - It is well written, directed and acted with ALL the characters from main cast to supporting players to the bit parts so well developed and ALL contributing to the story. A fun tale that I characterize as: "Prince & The Pauper meets the confluence of RomCom, Mafia, ActorLife & Noir"

6/10 may be harsh, but i will not not put it up against similar production values - you have to put it up against all production values (it ain't no godfather, but it's watchable). I've seen a few magnificent cheap budget films that were better than this, and this one really could have been a great film if not for the flaws i will be detailing.

I liked the story. It was actually original, although some of the relationships were strained and unexplainable (for instance, a cold to hot leading lady just did not cut it, nor several other relationships).

Seeing Hal Linden as one of the minor support characters was a shear delight. Another reviewer here noted that there seemed to be a remarkable rift between the quality of the young and old actors on this film - and I would agree.

The two best things I can say about this film is that I watched it all the way through - and for me that's saying something. I don't tolerate bad films for any length of time. Also, the music was the very best thing about this film. It was jazzy, professional, fully integrated into the story and the scenes, and way ahead of the rest of the flawed story/acting/scenes.

One other complaint was the cinematography and staging. It was amateur. Again, I may be a bit harsh here, but the camera was often too focused, without the wide sweeps that tell part of the story, from strip clubs, to restaurants, to hotel rooms, and even a golf club. If you have good equipment, use it.

My aunt and me decided to get this movie on iTunes because it sounded fun. She has been going through a hard time and wanted to just chill out and relax. I don't think we were expected to be so entertained by such a sweet movie. I don't usually write reviews but I see A LOT of movies and this one really hits the spot. It was funny but also had great heart. The guy who plays the lead is very handsome and I totally believed him in both roles. There are a TON of supporting characters you WILL recognize from other movies and TV shows. Hal Linden from Barney Miller is in it and what a treat it is to see him. My aunt said she had a major crush on him back in the day. The lead girl is good in the movie but something about her makes her seem stuck up. I don't know, maybe she was just acting. I would totally recommend this movie to anyone who was looking for something fun and entertaining. We both really enjoyed it.

Chris Cordone does a great job here, playing two entirely different characters who just happen to look alike. And he wrote and directed the movie too, so this just adds to how great his work is. It's kind of a silly formula but it works for me, and everything he has done is worthwhile.

Here's the real proof of how much I enjoyed the movie: as I would look to see how much time was left, the end of the movie was in sight and I didn't want it to be over.

And yet something happened that made the ending kind of a disappointment, so I no longer felt the way I had felt. But that's okay because things got better.

I recognized Hal Linden, who I knew so well as Barney Miller. I've thought I saw him before, but this time it was really him. And he's still got it. As of whenever this movie was made.

And there were plenty of other good performances from leading actors. Let's not forget the hit men, who seem a little threatening but can't seem to do anything right.

And we do get to see Lenny act in a real movie. He's actually good!

The music was great. Mostly jazz, and I don't mean smooth jazz.

Is this family friendly? Not really. There are the scenes in the strip club, and in the version I saw the sound goes out a lot while the mouth of the character speaking is blurry. But I get the impression a lot of words were left out that would be fine on broadcast TV.

This was a very funny movie.

As Rom Coms go, it fit the bill. The plot was interesting and the acting was good enough, but not excellent, especially the leads. Torrey DeVitto is lovely and I liked her character, though I didn't buy her change of opinions about Chris Cordone's character. He was likable as the two main characters, but I don't see how anyone could possibly mistake their totally different personalities. John Aprea and Kevin Chapman were both very good as the boss and his henchman. I would agree that it was better than most of the low budget films in this genre today. If you have a couple of hours that you don't know what to do with, you could do worse.