Best movie of this year hands down!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"Hi-Life" is no Christmas blockbuster. It's a small, rewarding treat of a Christmas-in-NYC movie, and it's one of the few holiday movies I love to see every year. It's a slice-of-life (well, slice-of-one-night, really) film full of small, everyday characters, written smartly and played by first-rate character actors. The NYC setting is warm, colorful and nostalgic without being dated in the least... kind of like New York itself (okay, like some parts of NYC). So: if you don't enjoy that sort of thing, if you've gotta have big-name glamour, special effects, knee-slapping jokes, car crashes or heavy,"message" drama in order not to be bored - avoid this film. P.S., if you miss living in and hanging out around New York, see it, especially during the holidays.

Hi-life is a quiet movie. It has a combination of good acting, a pleasing script, and its completely unpretentious.A good comparison would be to "Nobody's Fool" with Paul Newman, and in some ways this is a sort of urban version.The characterizations are wonderful. Ray the bartender seems a rather hard unyielding type, but as the movie progresses we find out he's anything but unsympathetic.Peter Reigert has a wonderful character part as a barfly-come-debt-enforcer who dishes out advice on women that he doesn't follow.Charles Durning has a great little role as "Fatty", and I couldn't leave off discussing acting without mentioning the late Katrin Cartlidge, who gives a lovely performance as a lush with a crush.All in all, even if you don't care for quiet little movies, put this one on the tube at Christmas time.

I kind of liked this flic'. It's one of those movies that you catch whilst flicking through the movie channels and you see and actor you like and say, I'll give this a chance.This is a movie that involves lies, gambling debt, abortion, gunpoint muggings and heartbreak, but not at one point will you become exited, mainly because the film is flat. Every shot is one dimensional and maybe the writer, who is also the director should stick to just writing.I am sure that this is a really good screenplay to read because I enjoyed the dialogue very much. I would also think that this is the reason that there was such a well known cast. It would have made a great piece for radio. Out of ten I would have to go with a five.

I came across this movie late one night when insomnia had me flipping the channels at 4am. I thought it was really rather funny. It had a bizarre set-up and then a very tight ensemble cast, and storylines that took the characters in and out of a series of New York City bars. Campbell Scott is very good in the film. And Moira Kelly is a cutie, as always.