HermioneJWeasley
I'm a fan of Sean Astin's, which was a major reason why I saw this movie. I agree with many of the comments - the movie seemed unbalanced -some scenes were good, some were quite bad, and one was boring (some scenes of Sean Astin's character and his friend, Jason, working, which did not add much to the movie. I thought it had the potential to be a much better movie. The movie seems like it is searching for a plot, but does not quite get there. I liked the bits of philosophy, although they seemed kind of out of place at some times (it was overused in the dialogue at some points) I liked some of the quotes in the movie, and the theme of experiencing something rather than just thinking about it. The scene on the beach with Morgan and his teacher encapsulated this theme of the movie, and which I thought was the best scene in the movie. What disappointed me is the story had potential. There were some likable characters, and there were some humorous lines and moments in the movie.I am so used to seeing Sean Astin play nice guys that the Morgan character was a bit jarring. He is so insensitive to his friend Jason, especially at a scene near the end. Jason is clearly the more mature of the two. Matthew Lillard's character is the most likable and believable character in the movie. He is good - natured and an easygoing guy. In contrast, Sean Astin's character Morgan does show potential of being a nice guy, but he's a very cynical guy who distances himself from women, and doesn't believe in marriage. (a good portion of the movie seems anti - marriage, despite the two marriages in the movie) Some characters (like Mr. Dewitt, Anne's boss) seemed stereotypical and therefore not completely believable. Since Sean Astin and Shannon Elizabeth's character really didn't have enough screen time, there wasn't enough time to develop chemistry. Plus, her character completely disappears for awhile - she is neither seen nor mentioned. The relationship didn't develop enough to be completely believable.I thought Sean Astin did a great job as usual. I wish he was given more to work with.
babeulous
Don't be misled by the display box or the cast listing: there is no surfing and almost no sex in this picture.The lead character fancies himself a philosopher, and pontificates continuously. But his philosophy is just surfer dude prattle, there's no thought or sense in it anywhere. And real philosophers don't babble on pretentiously about themselves. Drama works when the characters are believable. This character is utterly unbelievable, so there is no drama.The lead dude's sidekick is supposed to be intelligent and sensitive. It is not plausible that such a person would hang around with a self-absorbed, pretentious, babbling surfer dude who can't surf for even a day, much less for an endless summer. No drama here, either.I have known unambitious intellectuals who do janitorial work for the Zen of it. They're fascinating people. Had these characters shown even a hint of that depth, it might have made this picture interesting.Brian Dennehy is one of my favorite actors. He can be convincing as a guru-mentor or an evil villain, with powerful charisma. But he doesn't have anything to work with here. Kimber West and Lorissa McComas light up the screen for a few seconds each, just enough to raise hopes this picture just got better, and then they're gone. If you rent this picture to see them, you're wasting your time. (Won't someone *please* give Lorissa a decent role in a real movie?)There are great buddy pictures about likeable dudes from southern California. _Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure_ and _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_ were brilliant. Even _Wayne's World_ and _Dumb and Dumber_ have their moments. But _Dish Dogs_ isn't one of them.
Derek_V
I saw this movie today, and it's one of the few movies that I can sit down and enjoy while actually think about. This is not a big budget movie although there are some big names in it.One warning -- Sean Astin is really annoying in this. Which proves to me he played his part well. But I think the writers did too good of a job making him annoying. Matt Lillard is great in this movie, I really feel he will break out soon. You can tell a lot of his humor in this film is improv, it's great. Shannon Elizabeth is hot in this movie, but there is a seen where she takes it all off, which I really feel took away from the whole movie.The story line is that Sean Astin and Matt Lillard are best friends who have philosophies on everything and vow to each other not to let love stand in the way of life. The only problem is that that their lives are standing in their way of finding love.This is a movie I recommend to anybody who doesn't need a lot of action, or doesn't need humor to be spelled out to them.Overall I rate this movie very high, it was enjoyable, but Astin analyzing everything to death made this movie good and not great.
icecoldchild
Seen the movie on TV yesterday. And now commenting on it. Well, that's a movie of two genres (so, if you call them genre...): Road-feel good movie. And there's philosophy also. Two friends who love dishwashing. Morgan (Sean Astin), the philosophic one, and Jason (Matthew Lillard-finally a role which made me like him!) the more sweet one, who loves the life&Molly. Well, i don't know if it will show up on video (or it did already), but well, it's kind of movie that you shouldn't buy but you can watch on TV, and enjoy. There are in the way too much chattering of Morgan sometime, but still a real thing to make you watch it: Matt Lillard sings a love song in the end! :)
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