Standing Still

It's a nice movie about a couple that is going to merry and invite their friends to spend the wedding weekend in their home. Some of these friends know each others, but others don't. It's funny to see how they all relate!

This movie is half comedy, half drama, but it's a very "smooth" and "light" film… Like other IMDb user said it's very "easy to watch"… The drama part is related to old frustrations of some characters, things unsolved from the past, but it's not too dramatic or melodramatic, no, it's a very "light drama"… The comedy parts are the funny scenes, which are very simple but effective! They aren't so many, but enough to make you laugh!

I also loved some characters: "Pockets" (played by Jon Abrahams) which is pretty funny; "Jennifer" (Lauren German) the lesbian girl; "Elise", the bride (Amy Adams), which is extremely sweet (!); and finally "Lana" (Mena Suvari), the "confused" girl…

All in all it's a nice film about love and human relationships (woman-man… and even woman-woman…)! The wedding stuff is just plot's background!

Saw this at a film festival in Vegas last year. You've seen the story before, but this ensemble cast does it better than most. From the opening scene, these characters are believable, funny, and very entertaining. I was only familiar with Mena Suvari & James Van Der Beek, but it's the "unknowns" who steal the show (especially Colin Hanks & Jon Abrahams). These guys are good enough to make you forget you're watching a low budget movie. My only gripe is with a dramatic scene at the end which fell a little flat, otherwise a great way to spend 90 minutes. It also doesn't hurt that Lauren German is VERY easy on the eyes. One of my favorite movies of 2005.

I really enjoyed this movie. It is extremely funny. It is also a film everyone can relate to. There are numerous situations that occur that I said" man that was familiar"!! The movie has great energy and moves very fast. Colin Hanks is great. Could be a breakout role for him. The cast is wonderful from top to bottom. Pockets was my favorite character in the film. Johnny Abrams did a great job playing the role of pockets. James Van Der Beek was also very good in the film. I enjoyed his rendition of a drunken actor. All the women in the movie are very easy on the eyes. Mena Suvari is very quirky which was a nice change for her. She made a nice account of herself. Overall I think it is a movie anyone would enjoy.I think it is a great way to spend an hour and a half!!

The bad: This movie was a lousy wreck, which better resembled a WB sitcom than something that should be on the big screen. 25 minutes into the movie I was still thinking, "who are these people??" - there seemed to be very little character setup or development. For the most part, the acting was poor -- again, it was more like watching "Dawson's Creek" than an actual movie. The story was extremely basic, which is fine except that the dialogue was poorly written as well. The subplot with the groom-to-be's father was not necessary and distracted from the good vibes to the movie -- it was hard to watch, but not in a "I'm moved" sort of way, but more in a "I want to barf" kind of way.

The good: The movie pretty very short, so however bad it is, at least it's over quickly. Which was good because otherwise I don't think I would have made it all the way through. Also, some of the women in the movie were pretty good to look at, which makes getting through the film a little easier.

Seriouly, I'm not a high-brow movie viewer...I like a fun, dumb movie every now and then. But this movie was a wreck in most every way possible. Watch it for a great lesson in poor character development, sappy dialogue, and character clichés (the movie star character who seems happy but is actually very sad...how original).

These "slice of life", realist drama-comedies are far from my favorite genre, but as a serious movie buff, I've seen tens of them over the years, and Standing Still is right up there with the best of them.

The only flaw I can find, really, is the title, which is a bit enigmatic (not that I mind enigmas, but it's a bit out of context here). A better title would have been "Secrets", or even "Shuffle" if something less obvious was desired, as the plot is focused on an event--a wedding--that brings a wide range of people together, some unexpected, almost all with some kind of secret, and reshuffles them in various ways--often through revelations of their secrets.

Realist movies can easily become unfocused or boring--after all, that's true of most folks' lives if we were to follow them around with a video camera and expect people who don't know them to be entertained watching the results. But Standing Still manages to create suspense, tension and a healthy dose of humor while expertly weaving together a large number of threads, all while keeping things fairly firmly in realist territory and providing satisfactory resolutions. It's also emotionally satisfying and relatively "deep", often in subtle ways, all aided by the fantastic performances. Everyone says just as much with subtle body language as they do via their dialogue, and this just as often occurs in what could tend to be read as the lighter or shallower scenes.

I wanted to see far more about every one of these characters--and we could hardly call that a flaw.