Purpose

I liked this story very much, especially in a time where greed and money seem to be the front page themes of our national headlines lately. Purpo$e did a good job of posing the question to it's audience, "Why do you do what you do?" It looked amazing and the pace was sharp. I especially enjoyed Hal Holbrook as the Old Money Tycoon. Alan Lazar did a very good job in his feature debut and I look forward to his future projects.

About the only good thing I can say about "Purpose" is it does try to deliver a message about what's important in life on the heels of a boom/bust cycle of a new generation of materialistic status-oriented X-gen yuppies with dot-coms in their eyes. As a film, "Purpose" tries too hard to be hip with a script packed with buzz words and comtempo cliches and some guy who looks like Ray Liotta's kid as an upwardly mobile hotshot Bill Gates wannabee in the lead. Obviously the product of a newbie auteur, "Purpose" doesn't build much depth in its characters, is waaaay too cute, and seems to be little more than a slick new wrapper on an old story. Pass on this one unless maybe you're a computer geek who aspires to be another Micheal Dell or Steve Jobs. (C)

That this film has such a low IMDb rating is not surprising. In our post-Enron era, do we really need any more reminders of America's obsession with the greed creed? The topic has become so politically charged that a lot of viewers not only are not going to be entertained by movies of this sort, but will respond with barely concealed rage. It was all I could do to sit quietly through this cinematic memo of corporate corruption without extracting the DVD and smashing it into a thousand pieces.

What's really irksome with these kinds of films, including "Purpose", is their pretense that behind the glitter, there's some meaningful message that makes the film worthwhile. In "Purpose", I found no such meaningful message. What I did find was a story that idolized the materialistic trappings of capitalistic power and wealth. The two main characters, nauseating in their glibness, do very little actual work. Instead, they party, they play golf, they strut their coolness, they sound "hip" with dialogue straight out of MTV-culture-speak: "rock my world", and "Now get back to partying; that's an order". John is smug, self-important, shallow, and smirks a lot. Robert, who wears funky little glasses, is even worse.

The film includes two youthful garage geeks, who look and sound like they're right out of the film "Antitrust" (2001). Stereotypes are played for all they're worth, and in this film also include chic-looking computer equipment, and Barbie doll chicks on hand for those occasions when our can-do future billionaires need some relaxation after all that heavy-duty partying. And with the time-bound images and dialogue that such a story necessitates, can you imagine how dated this film will be in fifteen years?

About the best I can do for this waste of cinematic celluloid is to say that it does have some nice aerial views of San Francisco. The film would have been a lot more enjoyable, a lot more entertaining, if they had ditched those odious characters and that repulsive story, and simply flown us viewers around in that little plane for the film's duration.

Truthfully, there is not a whole lot to say about Purpose. It is your typical dramatic, yet entertaining, exploration of a generation during the dot.com boom. But what is an otherwise middling film is incredibly enhanced by the awesome music.

I believe that the director actually scored the film --- and while the score is cool, the really great music is found in the soundtrack. The music supervisor clearly culled through every musical nook and crannie to find these gems. In fact, the musical choices serve dual roles: it works effectively as backgorund mood and also really enhances the dramatic, comedic and emotional effects of the film. In some ways you could say that the musical soundtrack becomes a character in the film, much like a Greek chorus from the classic plays.

Anyway, the film is fun and definitely worth watching. Paul Reiser, who I normally find annoying, is actually great in the role of Ben.

Final Tally ---- Film 6 ---- Sound Track 10.

I find the name of this movie highly compelling. It got me thinking about the purpose of my life. I think the message of this film is an important one. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but there is something significant to take away from this high-tech tale.

I thought the photography in the movie was really stunning and I would love to see more moves with Mr. Donovan in them. He strikes me as being a real talent.

I recognized the famous fisherman story cleverly woven into this movie. That is one of the best stories in the world. I am glad someone has paid tribute to this clever story.

You should see this film when you are in a soul searching mood.