Mangus! is an interesting early work by Ash Christian, but shows that he is a better director than writer. The offbeat comedy about a kid who just wants to follow in his father's footsteps has a few hilarious moments, and a lot of untapped potential.
Stellar performances by Leslie Jordan, Jennifer Coolidge and Deborah Theaker make this movie worth seeing. They manage to bring cartoonish characters to life in a wholly believable way. But fully half the lines of dialogue are pointless -- they are not funny and do not advance the plot. Often, they merely restate something that's already been said, or that could be conveyed better non-verbally.
The dramatic potential of several plot points (like ending up in Hollywood, Florida rather than Hollywood, California) is underutilized. It's almost as if Christian didn't want to put in the time to polish a good script, or -- more likely -- that writing is not his forte.
Stellar performances by Leslie Jordan, Jennifer Coolidge and Deborah Theaker make this movie worth seeing. They manage to bring cartoonish characters to life in a wholly believable way. But fully half the lines of dialogue are pointless -- they are not funny and do not advance the plot. Often, they merely restate something that's already been said, or that could be conveyed better non-verbally.
The dramatic potential of several plot points (like ending up in Hollywood, Florida rather than Hollywood, California) is underutilized. It's almost as if Christian didn't want to put in the time to polish a good script, or -- more likely -- that writing is not his forte.