Sadly Over-hyped

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I watched the entire season of Project Green Light and then this whole movie, so I got the right to review, and this is a very bad movie, there's no one to pass the bucket around, it was Director Jason Mann's Script, Casting, Direction and Final Cut, so its all on him, the best twist which was Fionna's plan at the end wasn't even on the original script, it was added by HBO to try to save the movie!! there was a scene on Project Green light where Jason Mann is discussing with the head of HBO movies about the "musicality" of a scene, when that kid obviously has no clue as to what that is!! the movie lacks cohesion, solidity and rhythm!! Time to find a different job Mann!! I heard bartenders and servers make a lot of money!

I have a feeling that the crucifixion of this movie in the user comments is from PGL viewers who didn't like Jason on the show, didn't get their film selected, or were sticking up for Effie. The most difficult part of enjoying the movie was the fact that most of the scenes were shown out of sequence during PGL, so you already knew the ending before the movie started.I would call this a dark humor movie, but not necessarily film noir. It does try to shine the light on the troubles of the rich family, but a lot of that doesn't come until the third act. There were a few plot holes, and frankly some of the scenes don't quite ring true. The acting was good though and there were more than a few lines that I laughed at (in particular towards the end).Normally the brothers would have had a flashback to develop their characters more, but as the movie was effectively a one location picture, they had to do all of it with dialogue that worked for the most part. The Fiona character was developed well enough, I think; however, the sisters and the mother, while competently acting, didn't have a lot of dialogue to offer except for the third act. Bruce Davison was spot on, as usual. There were a few uncomfortable moments in the beginning, but maybe I adjusted or perhaps the tone became more even because I liked it a lot more at the end then I did in the beginning; the final shot is excellent. Give the director and writers credit, that is a strength that most movies don't have even if they had ten times the budget.

I've been watching Project Greenlight along with all the other reviewers here, but I feel like these reviews have generally been unfair and weighted by feelings from the show. The story is solid. You've seen some derivative of it before, but find me one you haven't. The character development could be stronger, most of these people are thin stereotypes, but, again, find me a movie not full of them. You do get a sense of who the 2 main characters are immediately, tho and their chemistry is fantastic. They're the heroes of this movie and they bolster it all the way through. The comedy is good: farcical slapstick. although I personally would have liked to see it ramped up a bit more. As was stated in the show, I would also have liked to see more progression in the main female lead and the pacing does feel a bit rushed.Overall a good solid effort with a few great performances. Not your favorite movie but enjoyable, and certainly not as pannable as the sour-grape-eating, wannabe-directors have reviewed here.

The central issue of how The Leisure Class might have been better has nothing to do with all the drama depicted on Project Greenlight. The central issue is the time structure of having the story take place on a single afternoon/night. Funny how none of the cooks stirring the broth brought up this problem. As it plays out, how does the audience know Charles/Thomas is a con man? If we were given some background from the months leading up to the wedding, it would give us time to figure it out. Instead we just see him reacting to his brother's arrival like he's a walking turd without knowing why. Like the storyline, the film seems compressed; scenes needed more time to breathe. For instance, it seems like mere seconds pass between when the characters show up uninvited to a party and when they go skinny-dipping in the pool. Which would make Leonard not the only thoughtless cad. Between the show and the film, ironies abound. Jason Mann is obsessed with shooting on film, even though the movie is destined for the small screen on HBO. Effie Jones is obsessed with diversity, and then the movie has none on screen. (One wonders if the black extra who was originally going to be depicted as a chauffeur would have preferred having a job that depicts him in a servant role, which Effie vetoed, to not having a job at all.) Mann is selected as the winning director, but was supposed to be filming a different script, which even he knew he wasn't right for. If I were one of the competing finalists, I'd be p.o.'d. As in, hey, why couldn't I have pitched MY script?