stonequine
The movie comes across simple however, it is the actors expressions and interactions that make it great. Love the concepts and story. His desire to have something with more depth and breakdown is not far from what really has happened to people as they restructure their lives to find meaning. Not to mention his behavior of feeling used and unacceptable so therefore unworthy of being anything else was spot on. Very well represented and a challenge faced by people who leave similar jobs. Balance that with the reflections of people in their twilight years that still want to feel alive and in love. The only off part to me was the over zealous Myron being the only one to quote scripture. Plenty of Christians are not psycho judgmental idiots but certainly some are similar to his character. Would have appreciated an additional non-psycho representative, even in a minor roll, in the story too just to point out how off he was. Still overall this rates as one of my favorite movies with a good feeling, lets all live life to be happy theme. Cheers to the writers and all who pulled this one together.
jm10701
Valley of the Sun is extremely predictable, full of annoying horny-old-woman stereotypes that were boring 30 years ago on Golden Girls and are even more boring today; of mean, arrogant bullies vs decent folk; and just about every other tired cliché from every hackneyed TV drama and sitcom of the last 40 years.Johnny Whitworth plays a thirtysomething LA porn star who for some unexplained reason goes nuts and then moves in with his parents in Arizona. He's shirtless and sweaty practically everywhere he goes in the old people's community where his parents live, and then he rolls his eyes and acts astonished when the old folks of both sexes and a neurotic young woman in a pharmacy paw at him. What a jerk, and what a stupid, annoying movie.I don't know what planet the reviewers who praised it came from, but it's not one I want to visit. Beth Grant is fantastic, though, as she is in every single movie and television show she's ever appeared in. If this dumb, profoundly irritating movie is worth watching at all, it's for her and her only.
Melody Hatch
wonderfully fun film! The premise of a porn star moving in my his parents in their retirement community could be treated for broad laughs, but is handled often with subtle humor and even a dose of seriousness.Johnny Whitworth dives fully into Vick Velour/Andy. From the opening scene at a porn convention to the moment where he's about to toss himself off the edge of a building, you sense Andy's disenfranchisement with his choices and not just his business. Like the rest of the film, he could have played the role just for yucks. Instead, he's equal parts dramatic and comedic. The film is choked full of great cameos. Barry Corbin, Garrett Morris, Graham Greene; all of them deliver solid performances and Morris in particular is hilarious. It's fun to see actors you remember not only get an opportunity in a great movie but deliver as well.
Dell Carlson
The very concept of the film is hilarious, but the film can't decide on it's audience - a rauchy, Will Ferrellesque comedy, a serious, adult drama, or an ABC Family movie about porn stars. It doesn't mix well. I saw this film in a theater a couple of years ago and the audience loved it - but it was mostly an older crowd. I couldn't help but feel then as I do now that the film was a missed opportunity at a larger audience.Whitworth gives it his all, and the other side characters are solid. The production budget was slightly cheaper than I expected, but it doesn't strongly detract. Again, another case of good but with the potential for great.I'd recommend it.
AD
