Addicted to Fresno

First off it has to be said that the cast is stacked with good comedy actors who have all had great roles in other things, especially the two female leads. So when they are given this chance to shine with no excuse of male influence or bias it is a shame that the material itself is such a letdown.

There is just nothing to this film, the story is basic and not really provocative or interesting enough to justify its creation. Unlike a film like Garden State, where the generally mundane story is balanced with directing choices that give the film a unique melancholic feel that suits these low-key themes, the director does nothing to highlight the stagnant flow of the plot. There isn't even really that much humour to pad out the barely-existent plot. Instead you just get two sisters talking in circles, while occasionally events happen around them, often with little to no provocation. You could argue that 'that's life', but even so the way it is presented is so unappealing that it has little merit as either entertainment or a think-piece.

Overall this is still a movie, there is dialogue and characters and events occur over a feature length run-time, but if you watched it with the sound or screen off (or both) you wouldn't be missing much. If you want a female-orientated film that captures the trapped feeling of small town living then watch Ghost World, I don't know how all the fine elements that went into this came out so banal, but it looks like they mixed flour and water together and made paste.