Drawing Flies

If you've never heard of 'Drawing Flies', i don't blame you. If you aren't a fan of Kevin Smith, i don't know how you even got ahold of this review. But, anyways, let's focus on the movie. Very interesting indeed. When Kevin Smith was making 'Mallrats' in 1995, two friends, Malcolm Ingram and Matt Gissing, recruited cast members for their own little movie. From the Mallrats cast members, they managed to catch Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Carmen Lee, Renne Humphrey, Ethan Suplee, Joey Lauren Adams, Scott Mosier and Kevin Smith himself. They managed to make this film which dissapeared pretty quickly. It never got a theatrical release and was only shown at small film festivals including Kevin Smith's own View Askew-fest 'Vulgarthon '98' and 'Vulgarthon 2000', festivals which feature films made by him and friends. Since then, it has became interest of all View Askew fans(Including me) who constantly bug Malcolm Ingram about it on Kevin's View Askew WWWBoard. One of the main reasons it was of interest to VA fans was because Kevin appeared as 'Silent Bob', a character he made famous in films like 'Clerks', 'Dogma' and most recently, 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'. On February 26th, it finally got its release on DVD along with a whole bunch of well-deserved extra features. After reading many reviews, it is, as Malcolm says in the commentary, 90 and 10. 90 percent of people don't like it and 10 percent do. I believe that i'm in the 10 percent of the people. The first time i saw it, i wasn't really sure what to think about it but the second time i saw it, i loved it. It's a really good film. The plot follows Donner(Jason Lee), Jake(Martin Brooks), Az(Jason Mewes), Meg(Rennee Humphrey) and Cassidy(Carmen Lee) who all live off welfare in Canada but one fateful day, they are cut off of welfare and have to find a way to survive. Donner suggests to go to his uncle's cabin in the middle of the woods. But what his friends don't know is the fact that he is going crazy and is actually looking for the legendary Bigfoot. Needless to say, chaos ensues as Donner gets more and more crazy. I really thought the comedy was funny, the drama was moving and the film overall was the kind of film Hollywood should be making but if Hollywood did, they would probably butcher it up. I highly recommend seeing 'Drawing Flies', it's the kind of movie that only comes around once in a century(Yes, you heard me. A century!).

9 1/2 out of 10

I would have to agree with allot of the comments I read on this movie. The sound is a big part of why people may not like it. Although, I must say I was expecting the worst ... so when I saw it the sound actually didn't bother me. You can totally tell the points in the movie where the sound is really bad. Just keep in mind, that this is an independent film and with that I don't think you will be disappointed. I have been a big fan of the Kevin Smith movies. I have all of them on Dvd and decided to see what other movies he was connected to. When I saw "Drawing Flies", I noticed it was PACKED with many of the actors that make up Smith movies. Even smith (himself) makes a debut in this movie. I would have to say if you are a Kevin Smith fan (even though this is NOT a Kevin smith movie) you will enjoy it. Probably because you see many familiar faces. If you are not interested in a low budget Kevin smith type movie, then I suggest you take a pass. I bought this movie through amazon before I watched it. I kind of got nervous when I read the reviews, thinking I wasted my money. I just finished watching it and would have to say it was not a waste. I look forward to seeing the director's cut and sharing this with other K.S. fans. I would recommend adding this to your dvd collection, or at least renting it.

One of the things I enjoyed most when I began to seriously study films was finding (at art houses, for the most part, or at screenings on college campuses) the early efforts of neophyte filmmakers. DRAWING FLIES reminds me of the feeling of satisfaction one gets after a long, arduous search when one comes away from a new discovery feeling that the running time was time well spent. At no point in the proceedings was I bored. There may be some unevenness (mostly of a technical nature, which is the bane of all no-budget productions), but this is excellent low budget filmmaking; take it from someone who's been there and done that. Would make a good double-bill with Onur Tukel's black and white first film, HOUSE OF PANCAKES.

When DRAWING FLIES came out on DVD, I hadn't seen it yet and figured since I am a huge Askewniverse fan, I would enjoy this film as much as the others. Damn, was I wrong. This film was very disappointing, even for what it was: a low-budget, black and white indie film with a decent cast, a bad script, and no point. So know I own a movie which I think sucked, but then again I can watch it for LEE, MEWES, and SMITH.

I watched this film the other day not knowing what to expect, only knowing that it was the "lost View Askew film", so I was pretty excited.

The film was, very indie, a lot of poor sound and at times boring and at times decent cinematography. And the Jake character and actor made me laugh/wince.

However, some very decent dialogue, an interesting storyline and an amazing performance by Jason Lee elevated this film.

I am a huge huge huge Jason Lee fan......I kinda wish I was him, and i have always thought he needs to get some deeper peformacnes. I love...LOVE his hilarious trademark characters in the Kevin Smith films, and a few others, but I think he needs some serious dramatic roles....this film provides him with some depth, some drama, and some chances for his hilarious self. Whenever he wasn't on screen i kinda spaced out and got bored. I know it's weird to say he's amazing in a pretty thin film like this, but he really was. I hope to see him get more starring and dramatic roles in the future.