Stories USA

Let me preface this by saying that I am a great appreciator of short films and short film collections. Any collection of short films presented as a feature presentation is going to run high risk of being uneven, but I'm able to judge it solely on the sum of its parts. And in this case, the sum is woefully meager. Each film is thinly plotted with ludicrous or non-existent conclusions. The distributors clearly scrapped together any short film they could find with a familiar face, and use those names to market the assembled product. They have two other collections that follow this same principle. Its obvious the distributor has no appreciation for the short film form and is just looking to make a quick buck. That in itself is a greater offense than any of these forgettable shorts alone. Anyone seeking a quality short film collection would be better served by any of the recent Oscar-nominated short compilations, or the web site Short of the Week.

"Instead of the end maybe we just found the beginning." A series of short movies that involve people looking for meaning in their lives. This is a movie filled with symbolism, most of it I am not smart enough to fully get. Like "Guilty Hearts" this is a series of movies that have the same idea but are not connected. Unlike "Guilty Hearts" this one is easy to watch. There is really not much to review here as it is not a typical movie. If you are into art-house like independent movies this is a great one to watch. The cast and acting is great, the movie is OK, if you like this kind of thing. Overall, not bad, but again this is the type of movie that only appeals to certain people. I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - I doubt it.

*Also try - Guilty Hearts & New York I Love You

Every scene in this film is rank amateur. It looks like a student film by someone who didn't do any studying. Though there is allegedly a plot, no story really plays. Like everyone else suckered into watching this, I was drawn by the cast. One involved a line-less skit about dodge ball, another involved a few barflies, and so on, and so on. Now I wonder how they got conned into appearing in it? If it was for the money, than so much went to the actors, there wasn't any left over for sets or a screenplay. So I can't help but wonder if any were blackmailed into starring in it. Nothing else begins to explain it. Yeah, it's that horrible.

I'd like to warn everybody before watching this piece of crappy movie. As the others writing a review here, I saw this DVD due to the great cast. Josh Hartnett, James Gandolfini, Steve Carrell, Paul Walker, Lois Gossett Jr., Joe Mantegna and even the others like young Stephen R. McQueen are doing their acting OK, but everyone knows that even great actors struggle when they are getting a bad manuscript and bad instruction from a bad director.

They must all have been lured into this, and the result is not only wrong marketed on the DVD-cover as a Crash-like movie. The move is some kind of mush mash of old Ames and archive footage with quite different quality. It's also some stupid kind of fantasy involved here, in what really tries to be some kind of comedy. And this is one which isn't at all funny, not even unwillingly funny.

In addition to that this is really a gathering of short movies put together as one. Not without some talent hidden somewhere here, but as a movie this deserves no other character than a 1 out of 10 stars. Some of the footage is both badly lighted and with bad technical sharpness and quality. When the film also is full of foul language and lines containing incestuous suggestions, and lots of swearing.

The directors, there are two of them, is Erik MacArthur and David Brooks, and should find something else to do. Save yourself a shitty time, and avoid this movie. It's got nothing you need to see, except great actors embarrassing themselves in the hands of what they might have believed was professional directors.

Unfortunately, I was suckered in by the big name stars of James Gandolfini, Joe Mantegna, and Steve Carrell. This was an absolutely atrocious film with poor writing, directing, acting, and themes. I am going to request my money back for this rental. I just wish I could get my time back. Watching half this movie I'm sure took years off my life. I could not even make it through half way. This film certainly belongs in the Rotten Tomatoes category as one of the top WORST FILMS of all time. To give you an idea of how awful this film is, it would make any film from the legendary Top Tomato Director Ed Wood, look like GENIUS. The United Nations should immediately adopt international laws of showing this film to anyone as a WAR CRIME. It would not surprise me if the School of the Americas makes this part of the training mercenaries in poor third world countries. I'm sure this film has already been shown to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. It's not water torture, but it definitely falls under "cruel and unusual punishment!"