nina148

This was the opening movie at the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and I thought it was great. The characters were touching and even minor supporting characters were well-acted and well-developed. I thought it surpassed the clichés of the "how do I tell my mom I'm gay? / let's pretend to be straight" genre, and was at heart both a nice relationship story and a hilarious Walter Mitty-type fantasy. Kyle MacLachlan's Cary Grant impersonation may not always have been dead-on, but it was unrelentingly hilarious, and I think the attention to detail throughout the movie...in "Cary's" wardrobe, the details of the Indian wedding, etc. were wonderful. I didn't see any difference in quality between this and a higher-budget movie. The sets were lush, the lighting was excellent, and the acting was consistently good. And there was a line every now and then that was so classic that my friends and I continued to laugh about all night.

I saw this movie at the South by Southwest film festival and absolutely loved it. The writing was great: witty, off-beat, and able to skillfully balance poignant moments with episodes that were purely hilarious, sometimes within the space of a few moments. The direction and cinematography were excellent...it was the best-looking movie at the festival, including some of the bigger studio releases. The acting was pitch-perfect...I guess by now everyone knows what a good dramatic actor Adrian Brody is due to his Oscar nomination, but his comedic talents were a surprise. Even more surprising was Milla Jovovich's incredibly funny portrayal of the main character's sincere but temperamentally explosive New Jerseyite buddy. The director gave all of these actors -- including Vera Farmiga (who I hadn't seen before) and the fabulous supporting actors who play Steven's family -- the space to do their stuff, and the results were impressive. I'm not usually this effusive about a film, but I thought this one was better than many of the Oscar-nominated films this year, and it'll be a crime if it doesn't get good distribution. If a film like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" can do so well on the independent *and* wide-release circuit, one like this with better writing, acting, direction and about ten times as many laughs should do even better.

I saw this movie at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, and I was very impressed. The script was tight and the dialogue was realistic...the movie managed to be touching, hilarious, and suspenseful, sometimes simultaneously! From the promotional materials and story synopsis I had expected suspense, and the movie delivered, but the humor and wit inherent to almost every scene came as a nice surprise. The story was engaging, and the film was beautifully shot. I wonder if the writer/director did actually come from a photography background, because it's not often that I notice when a movie has good lighting. :-) I was amazed to find out later that it was shot on digital video...it had none of the quality issues I would have expected from digital video, and I saw it on an enormous screen. I hope this movie gets more exposure...it certainly deserves it.