The Big Empty

I'm not entirely sure what this film was about. The ending is so ambiguous, that I can't tell whether I liked it or not.

I was digging the film for the first 3/4 of the movie, but somewhere in the third act, it became extremely confusing and all the good will that had built up in the wonderful character performances (Favreau, Cook, Grammer, etc) gets lost in the weird hokey-pokey that occurs. I stop caring for these interesting characters because their story is superceded by some new-age stuff that I couldn't even comprehend.

Also, there are elements of the storyline that either take too long to resolve (who's the cowboy? what's in the bag?) or just are never resolved at all (some of the characters are built up, but then just sort of disappear).

Overall, I enjoyed this film, but the ending was a mess. Maybe I'm just not understanding it, but I think they intentionally made it ambiguous. In which case, I'd say that's its biggest flaw.

An independent film made on what I suspect was a very low budget. It really ought to be held up to all independent film makers as a model. It show clearly what you can do with very limited resources. That is, what you can do if you are talented and determined.

It's well written, well directed, well shot, and well edited. And it all adds up to a damned well-made movie that is also wonderfully entertaining. When it comes out on DVD, make yourself a big bowl of popcorn, pop it into your machine, then sit back and enjoy it. Remember how much fun watching real movies not made by committees used to be? Well, you can still have that kind of fun. Watch 'The Big Empty.'

I know a lot of critics have knocked this film, but we found it to be riveting from start to finish - fun, and a great black comedy. There are lots of cute scenes along the way - and an intriguing plot running throughout.

The lead guy is great as your average deadpan Joe - and the rest of the film's characters are wonderfully off the wall.

Don't expect anything to make sense or follow a logical order; if it did, it would take away from the fun.

Some have criticized the film for being low budget, and it is - but so what? Give it credit for its unique settings and vivid color.

I feel so guilty writing a negative review of an independent film with a plot that include alien conspiracies and Sean Bean but I feel overwhelmingly compelled to.

Being a fan of such films as Donnie Darko and Mulholland Drive I was desperate to find another film in a similar vein. Lots of symbolism and a plot that makes you think, plus interesting characters is what The Big Empty needs, then it might be a bit similar to Donnie or Mulholland.

The problem is that this film is pretentious- apparent symbolism is included just for effect- in order to look wierd and make people say 'i wonder what that represents?'. It doesn't represent or mean anything clever or interesting- I guess that means it isn't even symbolism.

And don't expect Coen Brothers-esque comedy or dialogue. 90% of this film involves seeing a slow lingering shot of a very big face as he slowly furrows his brow and prepares to state the bloody obvious. I cannot begin to describe how tedious this film is, the dialogue goes so slowly and with so little purpose that it will have you wishing that something, anything, interesting would happen.

Most of the characters have no purpose- their scenes are entirely superfluous to the narrative progression. I spent ages waiting for Sean Bean to show up and it was good to see him but he couldn't rescue this film.

There is a very, very slim chance that the below par, X-Files 'inspired' plot will interest you and there are perhaps two good jokes in the film. However, if within the first five minutes you find yourself doubting whether you can stand watching his bloody big head for the next couple of hours, just turn it off. You won't miss anything.

Before Jon Favreau became a big time Hollywood director (Zathura, Iron Man 1&2) he acted in small movies with names that hint at what the movie is about like this one. Favreau plays this wannabe actor who can't get work and gets a sidejob to bring a blue suitcase to cowboy Bob in the desert. There are some quirky characters he meets along the way, some vague suggestions of UFO and alien abductions and whatnot and plenty of nothing happening. Apparently big name actors were jumping up and down to get their faces in the picture coz Daryl Hannah, Rachael Leigh Cook, Kelsey Grammar and Sean Bean have small cameo-like roles. It's not all bad per se but there are a million movies like this out there: low budget empty pretentious nonsense. See it if you still want to. But surely you have better thing to do.