Tiptoes

This film premiered at Sundance and I was happy to have the opportunity to see it. I am a big fan of Gary Oldman and was looking forward to seeing him play a dwarf. The storyline was interesting; however the movie fell flat. Strangely enough, I was distracted by Oldman's portrayal of a dwarf...I kept wondering how they made him look so small instead of concentrating on the story. I never did figure out what Peter Dinklage and Patricia Arquette's characters had to do with the story; perhaps just to show that little people have relationships with "normal" size people...I don't know. I thought Dinklage, Arquette, Oldman and Kate Beckinsale all turned in good performances, but somehow all of them couldn't save this movie.

This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. But it's one of the "so bad it's good" kind, if you're an appreciator of terrible, terrible filmmaking.

According to Wikipedia, there was a longer cut the director wanted but that the producers refused to release. I would love to see the director cut to know if it made even less sense or actually made some of the incomprehensible moments in the movie somehow comprehensible. My guess is while it may have explained some of the more absurdly awful moments, it was too long and poorly directed to justify including it in the final cut, but then why release this piece of crap at all?

How could actors like Gary Oldman, Matthew McConaughey, and Patricia Arquette ever agree to do this? Did they read the script? Were they eager to work with the writer and director of Freeway? Did they lose a bet? Did they owe money to the mob?

If you, too, are fascinated by questions like these, then this is a movie for you. So many WTF choices, so little time...

"Tiptoes" had so much potential but as other IMDb reviews will tell you it falls flat quickly. The plot sounds interesting and Gary Oldman never disappoints, though his role is bizarre in this one. The plot quickly loses footing and doesn't know where it stands.

Matthew McCoanughey and his Kate Beckinsale play a couple who find that they'll be having a baby together, only to Matt's chagrin the baby could possibly be born a dwarf just as family. Gary Oldman plays his brother, who accidentally breaks the news. One of the Arquettes plays a weird supporting character that doesn't seem to have any relevance to the story. Peter Dinklage plays Oldman's friend.

Gary Oldman playing a dwarf...what's to be said? His "prosthetics" seem to be simply folding his legs back into his jeans, and nothing is used to hide that fact. McConaughey and Beckinsale do a well enough job, and Peter Dinklage is the only somewhat interesting person in the film. The Arquette is pretty pointless after a while.

It's one of those "I get where they're going, but..." movies. Very hit-or-miss, and for me it was a miss.

The beginning of "Tiptoes" is simply excellent and approaches a totally original theme: the painter Carol (Kate Beckinsale) and the firemen instructor Steven (Matthew McConaughey) are a young couple in love. The ambivalent Steven has a deep inner secret: he is the unique normal size man in his family of dwarfs, and he loves his family but he does not live comfortable with this situation. When Carol gets pregnant, coincidently the twin dwarf brother of Steven, Rolfe (Gary Oldman), pays an unexpected visit to Carol. She becomes shocked with the situation, while being introduced to Steven's family. The movie works perfectly up to this point, showing an open-minded woman accepting literally the minorities. However, from the moment when the Jewish parents of Carol are introduced to Steven's family on, the screenplay becomes irregular, corny in some moments, silly in others, and the open conclusion is very disappointing, indeed terrible.

It was good to see Gary Oldman in a sensational role, and the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale playing a really beautiful character, without any prejudice and accepting the imperfections of life. Patricia Arquette is still very hot, but she is very stereotyped in the role of the crazy Lucy. I regret that such excellent original idea being wasted in an awful screenplay. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Na Ponta dos Pés" ("Tiptoes")

I grabbed this movie based on the title and starring roles, didn't read a synopsis, or look up what it was about. I never even saw a cover as I rented it in HD on PPV. I usually do this to make a film fresh.

After the first few minutes I was thinking okay, this could be interesting, which it indeed is. The acting is a little wavy, but the story was pretty true, and par for course, McConaughey had his shirt off in the first few moments.

Then the party scene hit, and everything got very bizarre. I suppose this could be the point that the cast and directing staff gave up, or possibly someone else took over the editing console.

It was evident that a huge continuity issue with Bridget-the Midget at the party started it all off, and it got squirrelly, almost comical. It became amusing to think that Gary Oldman probably took this role to get that "actor's stretch" that seems to get Oscars for those who play mentally challenged individuals.

I gave it a 4, out of sheer camp value.