Prismark10
There is nothing wrong with aping Quentin Tarantino if it is done well. This hip early effort by Doug Liman has a kinetic energy which he showed in Swingers.The film's interconnecting stories opens with grocery store clerk Ronna (Sarah Polley) who is in need of extra cash to pay her rent. Another clerk, Simon (Desmond Askew) a Brit asks her to take his shift if she wants extra money.Simon wants to go to Las Vegas with some friends, he is also a drug dealer on the side. Ronna encounters two guys named Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr) at the grocery counter looking for Simon as they want to buy drugs from him. Ronna reckons she could get a piece of the action and the money she needs by buying drugs from Simon's supplier and selling them to Adam and Zack.It turns out the these two guys are wired and it was set up a cop (William Fichtner) to entrap Simon but he is happy to get Ronna instead. However Ronna realises something is wrong and escapes but she also has to get rid of the the drugs. Of course Ronna now owes the drug dealer money and she now has no drugs to sell. Pretty soon the violent dealer is after her.The next story is Simon and his friend having a time of their lives in Vegas but a private lap dancing session goes wrong when one of them touches one of the girls and they fall foul of the local gangsters.The final story focuses on Adam and Zack who are two gay actors in trouble with the law and forced to go undercover. We have a surreal bit where they have dinner with the cop who is handling them and his wife where they are being forced to take part in some multi level selling scheme in order that the cop and his wife get commission to live on. Their tale brings the story back to Ronna as she tries to flee the drug dealer at a rave.There is violence, black humour and Liman keeps the pace going and slightly switches perspectives with each story segment. It also helps the characters are off beat and likable.
The_late_Buddy_Ryan
This fast-paced, inventive ensemble comedy from '99 has held up very well. In light of later developments, especially on cable, the timeshifting, "Pulp Fiction"-like structure seems less obtrusive and gimmicky than it did back in the day. Each of the interlocking episodes takes off from the same event, which we see several times over—a cash-strapped supermarket clerk takes a shift for a co-worker, who happens to be a retail drug dealer. Consequences, for three different sets of characters, include a shambolic roadtrip to Vegas, a shooting in a strip club with threatened retaliation, an ironic car chase, a BF left with a higher-level dealer as collateral for a drug buy, and a queasy-making dinner party hosted by a pair of narco cops. There's lots of chaos and violence, but it's cartoon violence, basically, and nobody's much the worse for it (triple-shifting Ronna gets hit by a car and left for dead, but she's back at her register on Monday). Every episode includes at least one really good time-release sightgag; to spoil just two—when Taye Diggs, as one of the roadtrippers, puts on a spiffy blazer in a casino, a guy gives him a tip in the men's room; at the casino enrance another guy tosses him the keys to his car
Smart, casual dialogue, not as self-conscious as in "Pulp Fiction"; my favorite line is a throwaway diss of the comic strip "Family Circus." Commendable cast includes Sarah Polley, playing it tough, as Ronna, Katie Holmes (she's good!) as the BF, a baby-faced Timothy Olyphant as the dealer, plus Jay Mohr as a TV actor in jeopardy; great to see a dewy young Jane Krakowski and Melissa McCarthy in lesser roles. Turns up on a cable a lot; available on disk from Netflix.
SnoopyStyle
This is multi intertwining story lines split into 3 sections. Directed by Doug Liman, this is oddly compelling like an insane night that goes into the vault and never to be spoken about again.The first section, Ronna (Sarah Polley) Claire (Katie Holmes) and Mannie have a night to remember. Ronna is trying to make a couple of bucks by selling E. When she doesn't have the real thing, she start selling fake E. Katie Holmes is actually a good fit for this character. Sarah Polley is her usual sardonic self.The second section, Simon (Desmond Askew) is going to Vegas with 3 guys. I call it the three idiots and Taye Diggs. Desmond is certainly energetic. The problem is that these guys are so idiotic that I couldn't root for them.The third section, Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr) are being forced to co-operate by cop Burke (William Fichtner). They set up Ronna for a sting but she gets away. After being creep out by Burke, they set off for a night out.I like the interlocking storyline. I like the first section best.
James Vi
What can I say, of all the movies set during Christmas this has to be the most bizarre, yet also one of the most satisfying. That said, the fact that it is set during Christmas is not as important as what actually happens. This movie is a very humorous account of a night from three perspectives. There are moments that you just cannot see coming, and the characters feel surprisingly real. The acting is in some cases (William Fichtner), great, while in others (Sarah Polley), simply okay. However, there is nothing in this movie that I would consider unsatisfactory. It is simply one of the most enjoyable movies I have watched in a long time and I highly recommend it to those who are fans of movies such as Pulp fiction or those of the British TV series "The Inbetweeners"
AD
