Out of Season

Seeing Dennis Hopper, Gina Gershon, and Dominique Swain (Face/Off, Lolita) is reason enough to like this neo-noir thriller. A bonus is David Murray (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, who plays an ultra-religious scumbag.

What appeared to be a simple case of a girl wanting to keep a drifter in town for her own pleasure, turned into a complex web of deceit and double-crossing that blew up because someone was thrust in the middle.

It was fascinating to watch, but more fascinating to see Hopper as a burned out thief, Gershon as a real bitch, and Swain playing everyone against each other.

Pierre wants to be a thief- Dennis Hopper takes him under his wing with the backdrop of an out of season amusement park as their home base. There are a few moments that are OK but for the most part the acting is flat and the story very dull. This is a movie that is severely lacking in a lot of elements and it will leave you wanting the time you spent watching it back. Dennis Hopper plays a better role than usual, but that's only because his usual level of acting lately is so poor. So when he plays an average role it seems like a big deal these days. Bottom line, miss this movie it is dumb and flat. The most appealing thing in this film is the villain, who I wound up rooting for because I was sick of the dumb characters.

I liked the movie. The characters matched the setting perfectly. The characters are shifty and edgy and not quite right as is the decaying off season amusement park where they hover. The movie was possibly too violent at the end but the viewer could see that the rot would never come to a peaceful resolution.Their Low life dreams were well described. I liked the bleakness of the unused boardwalk, the sounds of the rides being tested, the rain bucket which catches water from a leak that would have been there for years. Mary Poppins would not like this neighborhood . And the characters who cling there dream small time dreams...small scores which they think are big but the viewer knows are not worth the effort.

I really like Dennis Hopper from Easy Rider on......yuck! Total waste of time! It was definitely a "B" movie. I could not find anything redeeming in it. By the way, this is the first time I have ever taken the time to comment on a movie, but this one really did me in. Had to go to a Dennis Hopper site to see what he was doing these days, and he's doing a lot---maybe that's the reason--should have turned this one down! Can't say much about the other actors in film. Just finished watching it, and already it's a blur. I would think Dennis Hopper at this point in his life, could pick and choose the really good parts. Had to do 5 other things while watching just waiting for the ending....glad I didn't pay money for this.

I had the honor to see this movie at its debut at the Hollywood Film Festival. Ironically the big studio premiere that week was The Ten Commandments. Ironic in that this dark and compelling movie also portrays the Commandments .... or more accurately the consequences of breaking them.

The intense and occasionally unnerving action is played out in a run down seaside town with its decrepit roller coaster as the lasting motif. Writer & director Jevon O'Neill's fertile imagination (fired perhaps by his Blackpool roots) is complimented by excellent performances from an eclectic cast : notably a rejuvenated Dennis Hopper as Harry the old time crook who craves one last chance at redemption; a hot Gina Gershon as Eileen the perfectly manicured femme fatale; and 'a butter wouldn't melt' Dominique Swain as Kelly the ingénue.

But it is the next in line of Hollywood star quality eccentric Irish actors - David Murray – whose performance as Simeon is the most memorable. Simeon's downhill slide from petty theft, blackmail and ultimately to murder seem to flaunt gratuitously all of those Commandments. He exudes power, terrorizes all around him … He is the hate figure. And yet his vulnerability and neuroses also evoke our sympathy … there but for the grace of god ?

The superb system at the Arclight Theater also brought out the movie's excellent sound track – the haunting choral piece over the movie's dramatic dénouement is particularly effective.

Congratulations to all involved with Out of Season and good luck with promoting the movie