JerryLambert

We have seen plenty of maid turned princess movies for teenage girls. This movie is sort of like that, only this one is for 40 year old unkempt stoner dudes.

Charlize Theron is arguably the most attractive forty-something female on the planet. In this story she is also the Secretary of State making a bid at POTUS. Bob 'Saul Goodman' Odenkirk plays the current President. I was thoroughly confused about his background. Was he a TV star turned president who wants to be in movies? Either way, his character was incredibly unbalanced, but that doesn't matter. This whole story is unbalanced and weird.

An unemployed journalist in his late 30's to early 40's, played by Seth Rogen, runs into the Secretary of State at a party featuring Boyz 2 Men as the entertainment and we find out that his old babysitter is none other than the Secretary of State. We learn that an embarrassing encounter involving a tent pole when the journalist was a kid was the last time they had seen each other.

So, yadda yadda yadda, they fall in love and the fact that she is a successful and beautiful woman and he is an unemployed and let's face it, not terribly attractive, man child with political anger and substance abuse issues makes the campaign a little rocky. There is also blackmail involving a specific type of liquid and a beard.

Without giving away spoilers, which is probably impossible, I will say that I laughed out loud several times. The story is ludicrous, and not just because Seth and Charlize fall in love, I guess that could possibly happen, but the comedy is top notch.

One of the things that I appreciated about the story was that it examined how short sighted and one sided Americans have become when it comes to politics. Like love, politics are not supposed to be simple. It also pointed out that relationships between friends, family and loved ones are more important than ones own personal political beliefs.

I give this one a 7 because it is really funny. As dumb and unorganized as the story is, it still manages to be sweet and funny and hilariously raunchy. I think this would have made for a better TV series. Bottom line, don't take it seriously and you will enjoy this movie.

This is one of the best films I have seen in awhile. I have heard complaints that the acting is terrible, the acting wasn't bad at all. The characters were supposed to be very shallow and that shallowness was heavily exaggerated. But when the acting needed to be there it came across at magnum force. I would say that much of the movie has a cartoony feel, maybe that is because the only other work I would compare this film to is South Park. They amplify each characters ego and traits to the point it is cartoonish but it works very well in this film, as well as South Park. It switches back and forth between comedy and drama to the point you don't know what you are watching. Maybe many people didn't appreciate it for this reason. But then there are some weirdos that don't like South Park either. Go figure.

You could look at this film in a few ways, it makes you question things. At first it appears that the Dad is doing the right thing for his Son, then for his students and then for himself. You keep wondering where or if he will draw the line. It also makes you wonder what people will do for attention even if they must be a muse. It makes me wonder how many times something like this has occurred in the real world and how many times we have read or heard about it.

Robin Williams should be proud of this one, Oscar worthy performance. Daryl Sabara is incredible. He has covered quite a bit in his short career but this one should put him in the special class of young actors. I really liked Lorraine Nicholson's character Heather, she pulled off the Goth chick flawlessly. I also enjoyed the little shout out to Simon Pegg when Lance is talking to his neighbor about zombie movies.

Bottom line, many people will not connect with this film because it is very "artsy" and somewhat taboo. But it is a great film. Way to go Bobcat!

I absolutely loved the opening scene. The kid has dignity and self respect and respect for others considering what he is about to do. I have personally thought of this scenario before and it had played out exactly this way. I think everyone has played this out in their head at some point. I have lost many friends in this manner and the preparation is the most disturbing part. The phone calls, the arrangements and ,in some cases, cries for help.

But back to the film. This is one of the strangest films I have ever seen. Like I said it had me enthralled from the beginning. The characters in the film are well written and well acted. The story is very artsy but the message is disturbing. It is the equivalent of looking at a Van Gogh painting.

I had figured out the ending about half way through, but that isn't unusual for me and I normally am satisfied when I am right unless there is a very cool twist. There could have been no "cool" twist to this story though. This isn't an emo flick or a glorification film, it truly is a story about love.

I think this film will probably offend some people and many may feel too familiar and detoured. But for most people this film will pull you towards places that you have only wandered alone. It will present to you an evident taboo that you would never discuss at the dinner table. I watched it alone.

In closing, I highly recommend this film. You will either love it or you will hate it. But all great art is perceived that way. I loved it.

Jerry