Hey folks, Harry here... Quint went to this cuz he loves Alicia. He's got posters all over his house all with him digitally with her... WITH her. It's very disturbing, so how could I resist sending him to SCORCHED!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a little review of a tiny film opening up in select cities around the US in amongst the giants of this rather lackluster summer blockbuster season.
This is one of the first films I saw upon returning back to my shack after 2 long months of happy wanderings (not counting finally getting to see FINDING NEMO, dang ol' New Zealand not getting it until September...) and I found it a good experience.
It begins as a lot of stereotypical indies do with a non-linear time jump. Rachel Leigh Cook (one of the hottest young actresses out there in more ways than one) drops off best bud and D&D partner at a bank. He's supposed to be starting work there that day. We come to find that the bank has just been robbed. Cut to the previous week and we're introduced to the three bank tellers.
Alicia Silverstone plays Sheila who is dating the bank manager, played with huge sleaze-factor by BLAIR WITCH PROJECT's Joshua Leonard. She supported him through his schooling, helped him get his position at the bank, then just when he's about to get the promotion of his life, he dumps her. She begins to think of ways to rob the bank... not out of greed, but out of a desire to get her ex fired. You see, a hacker robbed their two ATMs ($40 grand each) a few months prior and she knows if the two ATMs are robbed again, it's his ass.
Woody Harrelson plays Jason 'Woods' Valley, a guy who has given his life to the bank and finally just earned his first raise and promotion. Tons of extra work and job responsibility and 55 cents more an hour. He's a peace loving guy, a desert dweller and animal lover. His roommate is a goose named George who was orphaned at as a chick by the low-down nasty hunter/get rich quick video scam artist Charles Merchant, played by the fucking hysterical John Cleese. Harrelson decides to get even by stealing Cleese's safety deposit box, which he knows contains thousands upon thousands of dollars. He only needs to get Cleese's key...
Paulo Costanzo (who most probably know from ROAD TRIP) plays the third teller, Stuart Stein... This guy is the cream of the crop, the future leader of the bank. He's always on time, takes no risks and is 100% by the book. Unfortunately for him, he starts joking around with a friend of his (played by David Krumholtz... yeah, that guy that got most of the straight males of my generation seeing red when he kissed Wednesday Addams in ADDAM'S FAMILY VALUES) who makes fun of his rigidness. He says he could easily steal the contents of his drawer (Ten Grand) and the contents of the mini-vault (Two Hundred and Fifty Grand) and has often thought of grabbing the money on Saturday, heading to Vegas and putting it all on black. If he wins, he takes the original amount and returns it first thing Monday morning no one the wiser. If not... he doesn't know.
So you have all those story lines going and then on top of that you have the drop dead gorgeous Rachel Leigh Cook playing of all things a D&D freak who has fantasies of using her D&D mad skills in real life. Cook and her buddy (played well by Marcus Thomas) bookend the film... they're kind of the lynch pin that connects all the interweaving story lines.
What happens? Who succeeds? Who fails? How does it circle around again? You think I'm actually going to ruin that surprise? I think I've told too much already, but if you liked the scenerio set forth above, then by all means seek this film out.
This film isn't the best movie I've ever seen, but that's asking for a bit, ain't it? Instead I got a smart, entertaining and side-clutchingly funny film, which to be honest was a nice departure from the mass of "Almost made it" big films that came out this summer. You get no explosions, no CG wizardry and a relatively small scope, which is indeed refreshing.
I'm not sure when this film is coming out in every part of the world... I know it opens in Austin and around other parts of Texas this weekend. Check around your local listings. Do some digging. This would be a fine matinee to catch. I mean, hell... You have Rachel Leigh Cook being as cute as any human being can possibly be, you have John Cleese working his comedic magic and you have Las Vegas gambling action. What more could you possibly ask for in a film?
In the end not every gag in the film succeeds, but those that do greatly outweigh those that don't. The film is complete and doesn't feel you yearning for more.
I better get running, squirts. I have a lot on my plate at the moment. Keep your eyes peeled for interviews with a famous kid toucher, a foreign director and someone praised in this very review. 'Til that day, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
