Powerful

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I liked all of the performances. How can you not? The actors are awarded household names. That said, the story is full on bad taste, beginning to end. I was not aware there was a book. I read a review saying the book is better and did not translate well onto the screen. Well, I can see that. If one would tell me the whole story of this movie one day, and if they were a good story teller, there is a chance I would find it a little amusing. To make matters worse, the movie starts a plot that grows into a crescendo that just does not pay off at the end. Without spoiling, I will say, I felt personally depressed by how poorly constructed and little grasp of reality the story takes a turn into so it can get finalized. To say something positive, the music is fun. The catchy song the kids perform saying that they should kill their parents is hilarious.

Two unsuccessful siblings reunite with their dysfunctional parents after an accident just to lose them a couple of days later. Considering their fame about making pranks in real life and considering them art, they are a bit conspicuous at the beginning, but still try to investigate the bloody disappearance, which seemed more real than ever. At the same time, the two must try to control their troubled lives, forget about the past that has been haunting them, but also be prepared to uncover a huge hoax, or a terrifying truth.It has a very interesting idea of a family obsessed with practical jokes which uses its children for every performance, but all starts to fall apart once the kids begin to age, separate from their family and are somewhat ashamed with their parent but mainly their past. Although very slow paced, it somehow finds a way to keep your attention until the end, which, by the way, is simply wow... Unfortunately not in a good way. The entire movie is quite boring, the disappearance part being the main reason to keep watching. The main characters are also boring and predictable, while their search seems to be as pointless as it is clueless. As I said before, the finale, although it is unexpected in a way, amazes you through its profoundness. Also, it leaves it as it was before, being there only to explain the plot but also making it useless and a complete waste of time. Contrary to what you might think, it manages to correct the lives of the two main characters who finally can succeed in both their careers and life.It simply lacks complexity and the actors don't manage to do anything in making better. Although it had an unique and interesting premise, the action itself is dull, slow paced and leads to an unsatisfying finale.

Kevin Wilson's extraordinary book deserved much better. Changes to the story seemed arbitrary, such as changing the location. The book features a quirky artistic family in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. The southern culture and the unspoken but very present Bible Belt offer an important counterpoint to the parents' commitment to art and ability to tune out or reject anything that is not in their definition of art.Bateman and Kidman were much older than the characters and while Christopher Walken was the perfect choice, the weird comedic genius he brought was not utilized in the film at all. Almost as if the director had no thought other than transposing (rather than translating or adapting) it onto celluloid -- the film offered nothing to a terrific story.

To all those "artistes" out there I will surely offend but to the common man who watches movies for some, just some redeeming value this is not a movie for you. Weak plot line, poor humor (certainly not a comedy as billed), the type of movie the pretentious "critics" will submit as Oscar material, when nothing could be further from the truth. A movie should entertain in some way shape or form. That "entertainment" can be measured by it's ability to move you emotionally in some way; cry, laugh, fear, anger, anxiety (suspense), etc. etc. If a movie can't move you emotionally in any direction to me it is not entertaining. This movie barely moves you to think. This movie fails in ALL categories. "Art" ... my foot!