Bending All the Rules

My boyfriend and I did like Bradley Cooper in The Hangover and a couple of his other movies. We were choosing between this one and another movie (which has one of our favorite actors). Generally it takes us a while to warm up to new or somewhat new rising stars, and we normally stick to our favorite long-standing actors. This time we figured, well, since we were on vacation, why not "bending all the rules"? (And why not? Title fits the mood....)

We were very disappointed shortly after the movie began... with the acting, sound effect, and content/storyline, etc. My boyfriend fell asleep 15 minutes into the movie, and I couldn't watch any more after half an hour... I am quite generous when it comes to movie ratings; in addition, someone practically had to twist my arms for me to give up watching even a rather bad movie – hoping it'd get better... This one didn't pass my hoping! It bent it... and motivated me to write my first movie review! I am also hoping that others might take the more negative reviews into considerations before renting or buying it... It is quite a waste of time and money!

From the sound technician to the female lead, this was by far the most unprofessional, poorly put together film ever put on video. Why on earth is it being tucked into RedBoxes and being treated as a new release? We see the name Bradley Cooper and think, "Ah what the heck, a little romantic fluff on a Sunday afternoon". WRONG!

While I think the female lead is a lovely girl, her acting was.... well, it just wasn't very good. Wooden describes her well. The carefree insouciance she is supposed to project falls completely flat.

Everything about this DVD was awful, and I still can't figure out why on earth I allowed it to play in it's entirety. I guess hope springs eternal, and I kept hoping it would suck less, but it never did. Awful, awful movie. I'll never get those two hours of my life back.

This independent film doesn't follow the usual Hollywood prescribed script with the neat and tidy happy ending for all. I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. It was unpredictable. The film follows a young woman and shows us some of the choices she makes - most of them heavily influenced by her upbringing. Rather than have the character of Kenna experience some cathartic change and start on a new path in life, the movie simply unravels the course that she in on and ultimately continues on. It may not be as polished as a block buster, but it has charm. Top acting and the filming was beautiful. The carny scenes interspersed throughout the film were entertaining all on their own - some great characters hidden in there.

I got this movie since the cover looked good and I do enjoy Bradley Cooper. The child actors (especially the girl) are terrible. The cinematography is like a bad 80s made for TV picture and the quality of film changes from scene to scene. The sound is bad and in some scenes sounds like your in a room with a bad echo. The lighting is inconsistent and changes within a scene. I have no idea what the plot is. After an hour I had to turn it off, something I've rarely ever done. The acting done by the Cooper and the main actress was fine, they obviously know what they are doing, and it simply highlights when bad actors come in. Its just bad.

This film is so bad that I honestly thought maybe it was done poorly on purpose, like a "Blair Witch Project" kind of thing. I can hear the director saying, "Cut, it's just not bad enough yet". The cinematography, if you can even call it that, is reminiscent of an 80s B movie, but the lighting and the look change throughout. Some scenes look like a talk show, and some look like a Soap Opera. The audio is terrible. Most of the dialogue is production audio, and the few voice-overs that were done barely line up with the actors mouths. I rarely turn a movie off before the end, but I couldn't stomach another moment. I only watched the first 20 minutes. Oh, and the plot, you ask? I have no idea! If I could vote a negative number I would.