SnoopyStyle
It's been a year since Tom Thompson (David Schwimmer) graduated but he's still struggling to start his career in architecture. He lives with his mother (Carol Kane) in Brooklyn. Ruth Abernathy (Barbara Hershey) calls telling him about his high school best friend and her son Bill's suicide. She wants him to give the eulogy but he doesn't remember him. He agrees to a pallbearer anyways. His friends Brad Schorr (Michael Rapaport) and Scott (Michael Vartan) don't remember Bill either. Scott's engaged to Cynthia (Toni Collette). At their party, she invited Tom's secret high school crush Julie DeMarco (Gwyneth Paltrow). Lauren (Bitty Schram) is Brad's volatile girlfriend.This movie hits on a false note from the start. Schwimmer's pathetic persona is not always appealing. This time, he's something off. He needs to get rid of his hang dog expression and stop doing his Friends sit-com comedy bit. He's sad and a little creepy. It's annoying. Any attempt at humor only backfires to highlight the awkwardness of this movie. There are multiple issues including sleeping with Ruth. It makes an unappealing character even worst. I actually wish that Tom had brain damage which would explain him forgetting about being Bill's best friend.
OllieSuave-007
This is a romantic comedy about a young man who is thrown through a roller coaster when he is asked to be a pallbearer at the funeral of a high school classmate he doesn't remember, and, in the process, runs into his high school crush.As with many romantic comedies, in this movie, people meet, date, fall in love, make love, break-up and try to go on with their lives. There is a lack of suspense and intrigue in this movie, but some character development and heartfelt moments. The mediocre acting, though, made this a not-so-funny flick. If you're a fan of romantic comedies, it won't hurt to look for others.Grade D+
Shaolin_Apu
Pallbearer is a story about a guy who has not gained anything in his life and his future does not look promising either. Well, he is healthy and sane but incredibly unfortunate because he has probably been a too kind person: the life he was supposed to be living has slipped through his fingers. Turning now into latter part of his twenties he realizes that he's still a little boy and he should start doing something.He will have a hopeless crush on a girl, and likewise a widow who has lost his son too will have a hopeless crush on him and that leads into a romance that is both tragic and comical. David Schwimmer makes a good performance as the guy who has to survive from many kinds of embarrassing situations, and Paltrow as the woman will do the standard Paltrow set. Nothing too surprising in the plot but the film is relatively good watching because of some well worked little scenes that faintly resemble Mr. Bean episodes.
budikavlan
The tone of this film is really difficult to convey on paper. It manages to successfully capture the elusive appeal that David Schwimmer has from time to time; it's easy for his sad-sack personality to grow annoying and pathetic, but this script managed to walk that line. The scenes of embarrassment and shame never seem overdone or cheap, and serve the story well. I especially like the down-to-earth, realistic beauty that Gwyneth Paltrow always brings to a role; she never seems like a movie star playing a real person. Because of Schwimmer's brief tenure as a star with buzz, this was seen as a box office failure, but it was never the kind of movie likely to rake in huge bucks. For what it is, a small, thoughtful, offbeat romantic comedy, The Pallbearer is a winner.
AD
