Highball

I love Noah Baumbach's other films, even Mr. Jealousy, and I've always been a big fan of Dean Wareham (and Luna), so I wondered why I'd never even heard about this particular film until so many years after it was released. I'm assuming that Mr. Baumbach tried to keep people from seeing it, because I went to see so many indie films back in the 90s, I wondered how I'd managed to miss it.

Watching Highball made me really appreciate things I normally take for granted in other films...things like direction, cinematography, lighting, editing, set design, acting, etc. There is so much more that goes into filmmaking besides hiring a group of actors to stand in front of a camera and read from a script. A mediocre script.

Maybe had they hired someone like Parker Posey to star in it, or just given Chris Eigeman a bigger role, the whole thing would have come together. But probably not.

That Ernie Fusco! What a character! He makes such funny films! HIGHBALL is no exception. I love this witty, underlit, six-day wonder so much! If you've seen any of Fusco's other films, then you know what you're in for. Just one question, who the heck is Noah Baumbach? See this movie. It'll make you want to be a big lizard next Halloween.

I just watched this film and I was amazed at what an effect It had on me. It was very funny and weird, but most of all it was true. The writing was sharp and often hilarious, but the performances are what really pull it off. I often say that Chris Eigeman steals any movie he is in, but it doesn't happen in this movie. All the actors hit the right mark to create something that is rare in current independant films. No one in this film over or under acts. If you love dialogue driven comedies with some fine nuanced perfomances (ie Whit Stillman, kicking & screaming) you'll enjoy this flick.

Okay, now this is a very funny movie...if you can appreciate its brand of humor. If big-budget Hollywood comedies are your bag, and you need a bunch of sight gags and constant over-the-top situations in order to laugh, then you'll probably see this movie as a boring, poorly-made waste of time. But it's not...and if you're a fan of stage plays or older-style comedy films (before the attention span of the average film-goer plummeted), then you'll certainly get some laughs from this outing.

Filmed on a shoestring budget over six shooting days, this film is an impressive result. If it had been shot in three months, and had turned out the way it had, it wouldn't seem quite as impressive...but it would still be a funny movie. What I'm saying here is that not only is it a good comedy, it's also one of those rare films that's shot quickly, for very little money, and STILL manages to shine.

As a filmmaker, I would have never attempted to shoot a comedy on such a tight schedule, with so little money. Comedies are very tricky...by comparison, dramas are much easier...at least in my mind. But this little no-budget comedic gem packs in enough laughs to please fans of stage comedies and classic cinematic comedies. Truly an impressive film which delivered more than I'd expected it to.

I actually read the IMDB user reviews of this film before I saw it. Many intelligent users had little good to say about the film, even those users who were very fond of Baumbach's other work. Despite this, I watched it anyway.

All right, so it's not a masterwork. Yes, the film was poorly edited, and no, there isn't much of a story. But the Baumbach wit is still present, and there are many hilarious moments in the film, enough that I rather enjoyed it. Ultimately, isn't that why we watch film? -Highball- might not make a great statement on the human condition, but at least it will make you laugh.