Standing Still

The bad: This movie was a lousy wreck, which better resembled a WB sitcom than something that should be on the big screen. 25 minutes into the movie I was still thinking, "who are these people??" - there seemed to be very little character setup or development. For the most part, the acting was poor -- again, it was more like watching "Dawson's Creek" than an actual movie. The story was extremely basic, which is fine except that the dialogue was poorly written as well. The subplot with the groom-to-be's father was not necessary and distracted from the good vibes to the movie -- it was hard to watch, but not in a "I'm moved" sort of way, but more in a "I want to barf" kind of way.

The good: The movie pretty very short, so however bad it is, at least it's over quickly. Which was good because otherwise I don't think I would have made it all the way through. Also, some of the women in the movie were pretty good to look at, which makes getting through the film a little easier.

Seriouly, I'm not a high-brow movie viewer...I like a fun, dumb movie every now and then. But this movie was a wreck in most every way possible. Watch it for a great lesson in poor character development, sappy dialogue, and character clichés (the movie star character who seems happy but is actually very sad...how original).

This is great movie with an awesome young cast. There are many good looking, talented, young actors, and they don't disappoint. Amy Adams and Mena Suvari are both excellent. I thought the entire cast was believable and had excellent chemistry. This movie reminded me of The Big Chill, (which I also loved), with an ensemble cast who get together years after college for a wedding. There are many interesting situations, and it is entertaining to see how the characters handle these situations. There are a few surprises, some very funny moments, and drama. It would be easy to over direct a movie like this, but that didn't happen. As a viewer, I was completely engrossed, and couldn't wait to see would develop next. The script always kept moving, and there never was a dull moment. I think this will be a big hit in the theaters.

What a pathetic piece of crap. A bunch of ill mannered, spoiled, infantile overgrown brats collected in a house the night before one of the couple's wedding. Nary a funny or intelligent line to be heard.

The real culprit is the awful screenplay. I gave it a 2 because the girls were attractive and it was shot pretty well. Most of the males were repulsively written.

If this is representative of contemporary American men I truly sympathize with women and it certainly provides a compelling reason why the Sapphic tribe has welcomed so many new members. WHiney, sullen, inconsiderate, spineless weasels seem to be the order of the day.

These "slice of life", realist drama-comedies are far from my favorite genre, but as a serious movie buff, I've seen tens of them over the years, and Standing Still is right up there with the best of them.

The only flaw I can find, really, is the title, which is a bit enigmatic (not that I mind enigmas, but it's a bit out of context here). A better title would have been "Secrets", or even "Shuffle" if something less obvious was desired, as the plot is focused on an event--a wedding--that brings a wide range of people together, some unexpected, almost all with some kind of secret, and reshuffles them in various ways--often through revelations of their secrets.

Realist movies can easily become unfocused or boring--after all, that's true of most folks' lives if we were to follow them around with a video camera and expect people who don't know them to be entertained watching the results. But Standing Still manages to create suspense, tension and a healthy dose of humor while expertly weaving together a large number of threads, all while keeping things fairly firmly in realist territory and providing satisfactory resolutions. It's also emotionally satisfying and relatively "deep", often in subtle ways, all aided by the fantastic performances. Everyone says just as much with subtle body language as they do via their dialogue, and this just as often occurs in what could tend to be read as the lighter or shallower scenes.

I wanted to see far more about every one of these characters--and we could hardly call that a flaw.

It's a nice movie about a couple that is going to merry and invite their friends to spend the wedding weekend in their home. Some of these friends know each others, but others don't. It's funny to see how they all relate!

This movie is half comedy, half drama, but it's a very "smooth" and "light" film… Like other IMDb user said it's very "easy to watch"… The drama part is related to old frustrations of some characters, things unsolved from the past, but it's not too dramatic or melodramatic, no, it's a very "light drama"… The comedy parts are the funny scenes, which are very simple but effective! They aren't so many, but enough to make you laugh!

I also loved some characters: "Pockets" (played by Jon Abrahams) which is pretty funny; "Jennifer" (Lauren German) the lesbian girl; "Elise", the bride (Amy Adams), which is extremely sweet (!); and finally "Lana" (Mena Suvari), the "confused" girl…

All in all it's a nice film about love and human relationships (woman-man… and even woman-woman…)! The wedding stuff is just plot's background!