Awful Nice

I have a brother. I can understand how some people who don't may not quite get all of the humor or the dialog or how things can escalate from talking to fighting in less than 5 seconds, but if you do have a brother (or a sister I suppose), then this movie will feel all too familiar to you. And in a good way. It's some of the most realistic sibling rivalry I've seen in a movie, combined with some of the most unrealistic and absurd comedy. But it's great absurd comedy so you just kind of go with it. The movie does a really nice job of balancing physical gags with clever banter, and I found myself quoting it a bit after-wards (that's always a good sign). A rocking soundtrack combined with the breakneck pace of the editing and each gag coming one after another, and the whole movie sort've flies by. On one hand, that can be a good thing, as you never want to be waiting around for a movie to end. Comedies that are too long often leave a sour taste in my mouth. On the other hand, there isn't much of a build-up to, or culmination of, a resolution between the brothers, and that was a little unfulfilling. Other than that, I loved everything about this movie, and I think it'll find a huge audience when they release it. I'll be seeing it again.

I saw this at the Alamo and thought it was the funniest movie of the whole festival, and maybe one of the funniest I've seen in the past few years. The big laughs come from the physical comedy, but there's a lot of subtle humor in the dialog and the characters too that I only started to pick up on towards the middle of the movie. Kind of made me feel like I'd catch more the 2nd time around, but this was the last screening of it at SXSW, so I guess I'll wait 'til it gets released. There were some lulls in the middle and the story arc goes from 0-60 a little too quick at the end, but these are minor complaints that only keep it from being a perfect movie. And most movies are not perfect, especially comedies, and ESPECIALLY extremely funny ones. Like Tommy Boy and Billy Madison aside, there are no perfect comedies in the last 20 years. And this movie felt like Tommy Boy got into a car accident with Sideways. And in a good way. I loved it.

I don't understand how more people aren't talking about this movie.

Awful Nice has to be one of the funniest movies I've seen since I was kid. It's not at all perfect, but it's absolutely hilarious, and just goes for it so hard.

I can understand if indie film audiences don't get it. This is more Tommy Boy and It's Always Sunny than it is Sideways or Tiny Furniture (which I like by the way), but I don't understand the mixed reviews and am honestly surprised more people haven't found this film by now. It seems like there's a cult following, but not to the point that you're hearing about it.

I first heard about Awful Nice on Doug Loves Movies, and added it to my Netflix Queue that night. I then of course forgot about it for 8 months. Then I saw it on the top ten on the pirate bay (I was just looking, I promise...) and decided I had to finally watch it. Very glad that I did. I laughed my balls off for 90 minutes straight.

It reminded me at points of Step Brothers and Wet Hot American Summer, and in a different (and almost certainly worse) universe it would be a huge studio comedy starring Jason Sudekis and Paul Rudd. It a better universe, this would've been the next Swingers or Foot Fist Way. Maybe it is and I just haven't heard about it. Either way, if you like funny movies, give this a spin. You won't be disappointed.

Overall, the brothers show us a good time, sometimes silly, sometimes serious and often funny. They get along better in some scenes than they do in others, and sometimes they want to kill each other. And I was very grateful this was on broadcast TV, because the sound went out so often (along with the speaker's mouth being blurred) it was sometimes hard to follow what was going on, but I really don't think I would want to hear what I missed. I mean I really didn't.

Sheriff Wegman and Deputy Bruce play "good cop, bad cop". Both cops play both parts, but Bruce is funnier. And dumber.

I think Ivan is the man Jim decided to hire to fix up the cabin when the brothers realized they were The Three Stooges ("That's coming out of my half" "That's coming out of your half."). Also, I recognized the voice of Yakov Smirnoff but didn't realize that was really him until the credits.

The cabin is too much of a dump so they rent a motel room from another guy who is quite a character. No, I don't know his name.

You have to stay around for the closing credits. Not just because of all the funny stuff in the credits themselves (I have never seen some of the wacky stuff that was done), but also the great musical performance on the left side of the screen. I hesitate to call it bluegrass not only because I'm not sure you can have drums in bluegrass, but also because Dr. Ralph Stanley once said what he does is old time, not bluegrass. It's actually a nice polished but heavily traditional sound with fiddles and banjo.

It's not a bad movie if you can see it cleaned up.

Sometimes a story played out on film serves as a motivator or is inspiring or just plain entertaining, however in the case of the independent film Awful Nice, I am still attempting to categorize it. The story begins with Jim (James Pumphrey) retrieving his younger brother Dave (Alex Rennie) to return home and attend the memorial services for their recently deceased father. The condition and location in which Jim finds Dave was the first indication that somebody has issues. This film did something that has never happened to me before, I laughed uproariously at some very funny sequences, but once the film was over I was left feeling unfulfilled. Usually if it is a good comedy, the emotion elicited is upbeat and cheery but not with this film. The characters Dave and Jim both reminded me of how competitive brothers can be having grown up in a household with three brothers myself, but the incessant arguing and fighting was just too much. I continuously asked myself if Jim is the smart one why does he keep following advice from Dave. And then you realize that after a while some of the lunacy starts to make some sense. I do wonder what inspired writer Alex Rennie to create this outlandish road trip, brothers bonding story, and whether the character Dave was based in part on Alex's own life. The reason that I ask this question is because Mr. Rennie was so convincing with his particular kind of crazy as Dave. He was quick witted, rationalized everything from a spoiled brat point of view and took no responsibility for anything in his life all while guilting Jim into mindless submission. Mr. Rennie is either a really good actor or he really is Dave. I've never been to Branson, but there was a huge inference that it is overrun with Russian Mafia and prostitution, which is the world that Jim and Dave's father's business partner seemed to be very much a part of. Since I watch a lot of Law and Order reruns it was easy to spot Christopher Meloni (Jon Charbineau) in spite of the mustache, the horrible accent, and the worse wig ever. He did a great job of portraying a sleazy businessman not that he did anything that was sleazy, he just really looked the part. I still do not know what the title related to, I suppose they used Awful Nice because My Idiot Brother was already taken.