Frogs for Snakes

Not even Barbara Hershey could save this farce. If it was supposed to be a comedy it was a total failure. There wasn't a laugh in the entire movies. Bizarre plot. Too much needless and graphic violence. If this movie was supposed to entertain, the blood and gore made certain that it did not. Hershey was badly miscast in this movie. If she was supposed to be a sympathetic character, it never showed and that is too bad because Hershey is an accomplished actress and this movie doesn't help her career. If it had been for Hershey, I would not have even considered watching this movie only to be very disappointed in her role.

This movie is about a group of off-off Broadway actor wanna bes who moonlight as illegal money collectors. One of their crew (Barbara Hershey) wants to leave and start a new life with her young son. Unfortunately, her ex-husband (Robbie Coltrane) is the theatre impresario/loan shark who pulls the strings of everyone's ambitions.

A very unusual vision of the gangster comedy theme. It takes the generalized neuroses and psychoses of actors (ego, ambition, narcissism, paranoia, etc) and runs the gamut from somewhat healthy to psychotic. People alternate from friends, lovers, and assassins at the turn of an audition announcement and will begin monologues from plays and movies with little to no warning (this will be fun for theatre/movie buffs). The plot, unlike some movies, actually requires attention and a large cast (most of whom are one to two sceners) delivers excellent performances all around.

FYI: has some scenes of graphic violence.

Worth a rent/buy used. Due to its singular style, I would suggest renting first, as it will not be everyone's cup of tea.

Maybe it isn't THE worst but it sure comes close! The concept? A group of wanna-be actors moonlight as collection agents and thugs for a theatre impresario cum gangster. In between shooting people, including each other, they recite scenes from movies, everything from 'The Third Man' to 'Repo Man'. Does that sound stupid? You bet!

Watching this until the end is a chore. Only masochists or people with a perverse fascination for truly awful movies will manage it. Writer/director Amos Poe probably argues that "quoting" from other (MUCH better!) movies is some kind of post-modernist statement about art and creativity. Really it's because he doesn't have enough talent to write his own original dialogue and characters.

An unspeakably AWFUL movie that everyone involved with should be embarrassed about.

I didn't know what to make of this movie...a lot of dark humor, but I couldn't make sense of what the theme was. The screenplay is well-written, but this movie is hard to follow, much less understand. I'm still not sure whether it was really good or really bad, thus the "5" rating.

Some movies are like olives or wine; you need to have developed a taste before you can fully enjoy them. The story was unexpected and definitely better the second time around since I was paying attention this time. If you like dark humor you'll love Barbara Hershey and this great cast doing a wonderful job. It is well above par for this genre.