Free Samples

This is one of those indie type films I'm actually glad I watched. It's very quirky, and had those moments that made you stop and think. When it started, I had my doubts, but Jesse Eisenberg helped pull me into the story. It's also got some 'laugh out Ioud' moments and some 'laugh out loud about a minute later' moments when you actually process the hilarity of some of the dialogue. The cast is cool.I love the emergence of Jason Ritter, I think he's more talented than people give him credit for. I enjoyed seeing Jesse Eisenberg in a different type role and seeing Tippi Hedren in it was pretty cool too. There was one scene where I thought the comedy didn't work very well, but that's typical of most movies, I guess. Gammill and Beggarly make a good team, not sure if they're working on other stuff together, but there's definitely a market for these types of movies.

'Free Samples' is not a masterpiece, but it's a simple, understated spark of quirkiness and brilliance, without doubt. Not only is it hard not to like this film, it's hard not to like the sarcastic, drop-out Jillian, played by Jess Weixler, who gives a faultless, genuine performance. One thing I find great is how we know nothing about Jillian initially, but we gradually learn more and more as she sells more and more ice-cream through the day. Jesse Eisenberg gives another cool performance of his and the ever-wonderful Tippi Hedren gives a brilliant touch to this delight.

This indie piece shows how so much can hit you throughout a day of serving chocolate or vanilla ice-cream samples. With subtle emotional input and very funny scenes, 'Free Samples' is a desert not to be turned down.

Based in part on a worryingly low IMDb rating, I went into "Free Samples" with some hesitance, but to my surprise it ended up as the highlight of the Palo Alto International Film Festival for me in terms of sheer entertainment value. It reminded me a great deal of a Sundance favorite from a few years back, "Smiley Face" with Anna Faris, due both to its snarky but ultimately sweet sense of humor and the wonderfully expressive and funny things that lead actress Jess Weixler is able to so with her face and her delivery. It's the kind of quirky -- I think one may in fact be required by law to use that word when reviewing films like this -- comedy about not all that much that understandably will rub some viewers the wrong way, but it's executed with so much giddy confidence (especially for a first feature) that it had me from the first minute and held onto me for all of the rest. Director Jay Gammill mentioned at the Q&A that he's currently working on a second feature with the same screenwriter. I'm looking forward to it.

Free samples is what an indie movie should be: small, quirky interesting, more character than action - about real life rather than just imagination, and this is Free Samples. It's a film that requires little effort to enjoy but is full of little vignettes that leap off the screen.

All in all, I for one enjoyed this more than many big budget movies: the characters have something to say, the comedy is nicely observed, the camera is tight (even semi-documentary), it's well edited and well shot with a great sense of slacker pace about it and it has a charm of its own.

Seriously, a nice gentle comedy set sround one day of looking after an artificial ice-cream van (so free samples) with some vitriol in the exchanges - the whole thing come across as ten times more honest than most comedies and this is one I would warmly recommend.

I am retired, I watch movies every day, I collect them and I only stumbled across this gem in 2017. There should be more than just 23 reviews of this wonderful film so I am adding mine. I thought the movie Clerks was brilliant, and I think this movie is similarly brilliant. Similar themes, similar presentation, similar degree of profundity, but Free Samples is much more friendly and the acting is far more charming. And the charm stays with you as you contemplate the possibilities.