Purpose

The best summary of the dotbomb era yet produced. Unfortunately, the appeal of this very articulate movie will always be very narrow. Those who were not caught up in the dotcom scam will probably not understand the profundity of the points presented. But for those of us Silicon Valley folk who were caught up in the explosive hypergrowth of the late 1990s, this movie serves as an excellent synopsis of what turned out to be one of the biggest equities scams in human history. Some of the most intelligent people on the planet lost sight of their live's goals and purpose, putting sustainable ventures on hold in pursuit of the quick score, gambling sustainable lifestyles in pursuit of the big win, sinking life savings (and kids' college funds, home equity, etc) in speculative ventures and questionable ideas, then losing everything when the sharks pulled out and the pyramid collapsed around those not smart enough to have pulled out.

Purpose. Awesome move, a must see for anyone in the technology field, or for anyone who lived through the insanity of the dotbomb scam.

How do you measure success? By winning "the game"? This film does an excellent job of posing that question in the milieu of smart, driven, talented 20something cyberkings who make (and lose) it all in a high tech high stakes poker game. Who's bluffing and who's really got what it takes? "Purpose" is smart, funny, fast paced and right on top of its subject matter.

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.

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.

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.