Reviews

I caught this during a bout of insomnia YEARS ago, way before Reno 911. It was on in the wee hours of the morning and after I caught one, I tried in vain to find any information on the show. Even the website is "under construction". Forever I think. Reno 911 DID come WAY after Blotter and I find it pales in comparison. It lacks the realness that Blotter has, or the authentic atmosphere that gives the comedy a sharper, smarter edge. I find it more clever and funny than Reno 911, and wish that it was a normal length show during prime time. Reno tries too hard to be real, and doesn't try enough to have good writing. Blotter plays it straight and has a certain spontaneity and smartness. I find it a riot, while I find Reno relying on sight gags, and vulgarity. I wish they would gather all the Blotters and offer them up on DVD.

I've seen it a couple of times. I understand Altman was maybe trying to create a disjointed, farcial almost surreal type atmosphere, but I found the lack of cohesiveness and clear cut thread annoying and it caused me to not care about the film or its characters. Being just a regular jane and not blessed with 15 or so credits in Film-making at NYU, the subtly of the art was lost on me. I desperately wanted just a little exposition to grab onto, and all the film's inside jokes and vague, obscure references to Italian films I found to be self indulgent. I'm not saying this film was bad - just bad for me. I think he could have pulled off the same feel and frenzied little European farce with a TOUCH more connective tissue in the plot. Not a lot, just a little for the audience to care about the story, the characters and whatnot. The thing I found in the film that I even cared more than a fig about was the Simone storyline.

Oh my god, it was just awful.

There was no credible plot, and it was ugly to look at. It was one of those times where you wait for all your nickels to fall into place so that you can get the point of it and leave. Like Rushmore, I just sat there praying that I would all of a sudden, be enlightened and GET IT. Never happened. Instead what I realized is that I had just wasted a good portion of my life watching it, and that it truly was an incomprehensible pile of crap. And I don't think that it was just because "I didn't GET it."

To each his own, but dang this was just wicked bloody awful. Not funny and very disturbing (and not in that fun "After Hours" disturbing way).

Really. Just a bad movie. But, statistically, there are going to be a portion of the audience who will like/love this movie. I was not one of them.

It's a guilty pleasure, I know. I find it funny and cute and much better than all the other family Friday line up ABC had on.

I even loved it and followed it when Depanga and Cory got together and got married.

It just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling all over...

It's a movie with contrived darkness, a Heathers clone but not as well made. The dark comedy is at times hampered by a script and plot line that cripples any kind of suspension of disbelief, and McGowen's stilted performance is annoying. Its not a REAL bad movie, but worse than Heathers which had dark HUMOR as well as better acting. Lines like "I love mah dead gay son" make it heads and shoulders above Jawbreaker. It IS a good movie for the slacker set, one that is exagerrated angst with an MTV vulgarity.