Ceremony

I will say that "Ceremony" is not actually the average romantic comedy, and that was one of the brighter moments of the movie. That being said, then "Ceremony" was a rather uneventful and somewhat pointless movie.

The story was almost too simplistic and offered no laughs along the way. And this was ultimately the tripping point of the movie. It took director Max Winkler one hour and twenty-six minutes to get from A to B, and managed to almost tell nothing along the way.

It should be said that the people on the cast list were doing good jobs with their given roles, and there were some good talents performing in the movie. It was actually Lee Pace who carried the movie with his performance, despite not having a leading role.

Should you happen to like romantic comedies, then there are far better choices of this genre available out there.

I watched this movie with my family after viewing the trailer. The trailer depicted the movie as being a road-trip type romantic comedy, and as a group we decided that it looked like a decent movie. Sadly, we were wrong.

Our big problem with the movie was that the main character Sam Davis (Michael Angarano) is such an a-hole that we couldn't engage emotionally with this movie. He's rude. He's a liar. He manipulates people. While he has the emotional intelligence of a 5 year old, its hard to imagine this guy writes children books, as he has no innocence and no heart.

I find it very hard to enjoy a movie where the main character is such an a-hole that you would like to shoot him yourself, and you are hoping throughout the duration of the movie that he does NOT get the girl. There was nothing "feel good" about this movie.

This film tells the story of a young man who convinces a friend to go to the beach for a holiday. What he truly plans is to crash his ex- girlfriend's wedding.

"Ceremony" has a strange title, because it is so descriptive and doesn't leave anything to the imagination. As for the film itself, the only is alright, but I have trouble getting the film because of the age difference between Sam and Zoe. Though I can see that the age difference is an integral part of the story, it still is not a believable romance. In addition, how Zoe gives off different and conflicting signals to Sam is quite unfair. I think it's not a particularly enjoyable romantic comedy.

I honestly did not enjoy this film. I found it slow, boring and utterly hard to follow. It is listed as a comedy, I didn't laugh once. This film tried hard to be an "arty" type film but came off disjointed, bawdy, sleep inducing and even utterly unrelated in parts. The characters were hard to get into, they didn't "gel" with each other. The scenes do not flow and jump around quite a bit and don't relate to each other. The characters were not believable and did not draw you in. They don't mesh with each other or fully give you a full picture of the relationship between characters. The whole way through this film you are guessing at the plot, at why a scene is playing out the way it is, and what is really going on. It is very obscure, not made any easier with the whole different storyline going on with Uma's character's brother. That confuses the whole plot even more. I struggled on with this film purely because I thought it would get better, and particularly I will admit because Uma was listed in it and I had enjoyed her acting in the past.Save yourself the bother and don't bother pressing play. Sorry Uma but you have acted in far better then this!

Sam (Michael Angarano) is going to take his friend Marshall (Reece Thompson) on an adventure. It starts with Sam referring to liking a book in his "younger and more vulnerable years." Sam used to think it was written about him; Marshall thinks it is written about him. And if you already know which book they are referring to, the characteristics of Sam and Marshall, and the adventure they are about to go on, instantly fall into place.

Marshall doesn't yet know, but Sam is chasing after a girl. You probably already knew that because after all, that's what Gatsby was doing too. And because "Ceremony" is a romantic comedy. The girl is Zoe (Uma Thurman) and she's about to marry Whit because he's rich and handsome. Sam, although just as immature, is likely a bit more well-read than Gatsby, and he makes some hilarious and shrewd remarks about Whit and Zoe, their relationship, and about the relationship he would like to have with Zoe.

"Ceremony" is not actually like "The Great Gatsby", but the simple parallels that you can make amongst all the characters, illustrates how anyone would be able to find something to connect to in Fitzgerald's classic. And then afterwards, you will be able to find an extra layer of meaning in "Ceremony".

This is a romantic comedy, or coming-of-age journey, that is delightfully funny, whimsically quirky, but with a real sense of character. It is written and directed by Max Winkler, son of the Fonz, and he shows a natural ability coupled with a strong sense of humour and intellect. What makes me confident that he will become a great writer is when his characters discuss the art of writing characters all the while being completely oblivious to their own flaws.

Michael Angarano shows that he is becoming the star that he deserves to be (if this finds an audience) with his quick delivery of witty lines and his ability to sport a moustache and a burnt-orange suit throughout the entire movie without ever making a single joke feel tired. The younger Reese Thompson (playing the year-and-a-half older Marshall) seemed a bit out of his league, but then again he's playing a character who is a bit out of his league.

Although it takes place during a weekend wedding with a guy trying to win over a girl, it doesn't follow any standard romantic comedy trajectories. Marhsall observes those around him as he slowly matures, and Sam gets pretty much exactly what he deserves for his current level of maturity and understanding of human nature. "Ceremony" gives us that green light at the end of the dock to believe in, the orgastic future of filmmaking.