Rick

Bill Pullman stars as the title character Rick, a mean spirited businessman who does not care who he has to step on or what he has to do in order to get ahead.

The movie starts when he goes overboard with an interviewee (Sandra Oh)one day and not only insults her, but costs her her current job as well. He shows little regard for her and she loses it and "curses" him. Of course, from this point forward, he seems to have bad luck, but nothing too abnormal. At least not for awhile.

I did not care for this movie because it made you sit through some pretty boring drivel and it does not pay off in the end. In fact, it becomes pretty predictable. I also got a bit of an incestuous vibe from Pullman's character and that of his daughter, Eve, played by Agnes Bruckner (who is very beautiful and probably the best thing about this movie). This does not seem to have any purpose, therefore does not sit well with me, either. Also, too many coincidences to make the movie as unbelievable as it is boring. Pullman does not pull off the performance you would expect here and to be honest, I really can not recommend it. I give this movie 4 out of 10.

This movie moved in such a quick and informative cycle I felt I couldn't spare 3 minutes to grab a feed bag and a bottle. I can't remember any movie I've seen lately being as captivating and quick.

The cast plays the characters in an alternately despicable and delectable, very off-hand way. Who to loathe... more? Many characters are disastrous self-absorptions.

Especially notable are the performances of Sandra Oh, Bill Pullman and Dylan Baker. I guess the most notable performance award from me goes to the guy who played Bill Pullman's boss (BIGBOSS), because I disliked that character so much I forgot to even look up the actor's name.

Details, details, delicious details are all over this film. The constantly changing phone number on BUCK's business card. The changing wallpaper, the distant behaviour of the friend of Rick's daughter. Rick's office door opening in different directions in different scenes.

This movie is worth every moment. I voted so high because I watched it on cable and I couldn't pause it and I wouldn't go pee.

Frankly, I found it to be a very captivating movie full of captivating characters full of honest hope and blind faith.

To say that "Rick" is a black, bleak, despicable and vile wretch of a film is an understatement of solemnly epic proportions, but this doesn't mean it's not worth seeing.

There are great performances, especially from the always-superb Bill Pullman who - I have to say it - pulls out all the stops here in his portrayal of a man who has rotted from the inside (his wife was murdered for pocket change) and is still forced to go on living. "We can do this," is the motto of the company he works for, and this is but one tiny little irony in a film that is virtually overloaded with them, some subtle and some blatantly in-your-face obvious, but in the end, they all work, because the film is edited properly, with not one frame that doesn't belong. See it with someone you thoroughly despise.

It is surprising that an indie film was able to attract the talent of such talented actors, designers and crew, but over looked a critical element which is the film score. The music composed and arranged for this film was a very amateur work. So much so that it pulled you out of the story each time the poorly done music was played. You have to fight to not listen to it, so that you can keep your head in the story and action of the film. This is not the purpose of film music, it needs to work with the film, not against it.

The art direction was right on, as was the location shots of the film including the offices and the apartment. It is too bad that this wasn't done with a composer of the talents equal to the rest of the level of this film.

Don't let the presence of Bill Pullman (Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping, Singles) fool you; this is no breezy romcom. Not by a mile.

Based on a famous opera (in case you don't already know which one, I won't tell you because that might ruin the story), it's a pretty clever modernization. It begins innocently enough like a good dark comedy, but almost immediately you start to pick up cues that the director is trying to unsettle us. Scenes of New York City are shot from low, wide angles creating a claustrophobic effect. Most of the story seems to happen at night in shady places or in the dark, ominous halls of the sleazebag corporation where Rick works. All of this offsets the comedy which is rife in the first half.

But if you're expecting a comic morality tale like "Scrooged" or "Groundhog Day" or even "A Christmas Carol", you'll be in for a few surprises. First of all, the choice of leading actor Bill Pullman is a puzzler. We're supposed to hate him, right? How can we possibly hate the eternal good guy "Walter from Sleepless in Seattle"? The answer is we can't. And I believe this casting choice was intentional. In the DVD extras the filmmakers say it's much more complicated than bad-guy-takes-his-lumps. Instead they create a complex protagonist who is evil but not without just cause. This complicates matters as we become sympathetic toward him. The experience can be very emotionally draining, but that's why I think this is a good film.

An outstanding performance from Agnes Bruckner as the daughter, as well as great supporting roles from everyone involved, keep things moving at a somewhat fast pace. You barely have time to notice the great architecture and powerful sets featured in the film, not to mention all the literary allusions and little winks at the audience (for example, notice how the phone number on Buck's business card keeps changing).

As far as creative retellings of classic stories go, "Rick" is a winner. Other good ones include "The Claim" (a wild west adaptation of the Byron poem "Ozymandias"), "Dolan's Cadillac" (based on Stephen King's rewrite of Poe's "Cask of Amontillado") and--a bit of a stretch but--"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", a kick-butt retelling of Moby Dick.