Arizona Seaside

This broad slapstick comedy plays like a great SNL sketch. If you're a fan of slapstick this indie film will please. I could see Jim Carey or Andy Kaufman in this film. If that was the case it would be a blockbuster instead of a little indie. Camera work is nicely done in some picturesque locations. The story is clever and silly and keeps you interested from the start to the closing credits. Two thumbs up.

This is a fun offbeat comedy with colorful characters. Worth watching!

Writing and directing a murder mystery doesn't lead people to implicate its writer/director as a murderer, or as inherently mysterious. Yet when you're Jens Pilegaard and you write and direct a wonderfully eccentric nut job comedy like Arizona Seaside, it's hard not to presume that Pilegaard must in Real Life be gloriously off-the-rails. It's just how it works.

Whether or not that's true, Arizona Seaside picks up the stick and slaps you with it early and often. One look at the log line portends what lies ahead: "A Kazakhstan girl crosses paths with a sweet conman moonlighting as a Robin Hood for stray animals." Game on! As the film opens up its metaphorical bathrobe and exposes its goofball self to the audience, we see a weirdly solid storyline relationship develop between the Kazakstani runaway wanting to be a country music superstar (!) and the anal-rententive, business-minded bloke Pilegaard shrewdly counterpoints her against. Despite a cast as large and as wildly unique as the comedic ideas flying in and out, Arizona Seaside admirably holds its focus on these two core characters throughout this cleverly absurdist ride.

If you're the type who needs comparables, sketch-driven mainstays like Saturday Night Live (when at the height of its powers) and the legendary Monty Python are legitimate reference points, as is Chevy Chase's Vacation series: All utilize the outlandish melded with a coherent story. Through to the end, Arizona Seaside is as fun as it is funny.

If you love to watch Indies then, like me, you should be sick of unnecessary, gratuitous violence that dominates indie world solely for attention's sake. This film is so different from other Indies! It has crime in it. But it manages to make crime funny, charming, even endearing (without glorifying it.) Animal rights activists will be very pleased with a strong animal rights message of this film. Most impressively, this film manages to play against all stereotypes. Where else have you seen a Khazakhstanian immigrant who dreams of being a country music star? How about a "Big Daddy" who is lanky and skinny? The characters are completely surreal and so so real at the same time. The actors are all new faces, but the cast is very strong. These guys are here to stay. Finally, the quality is impressive (production value anyone?) Watch it, and be endeared by Arizona Seaside.

Slapstick. SNL style/Christopher Guest/Monty Python combo of comic styles makes Arizona Seaside a real gem of a discovery on here. I thoroughly enjoyed this bold, broad gem of a film. Such a great time, funny, goofy, wild characters and situations, but overall: FUN. I really wish there were more of this type of film out there, because it's really fun to see something like this pulled off. Don't take yourself too seriously, and go enjoy this one!! Recommend!!