Such Good People

Such Good People

This was a silly romp nothing more, I enjoyed it for what it was!

Did you know that "dolphins are smart, they're like chimpanzees with fins" or "porpoises are the people of the sea"? Well that's what we learn as we follow the antics of "Richard" (Michael Urie) and boyfriend "Alex" (Randy Harrison) after they agree to do some house-sitting and discover $980k and a curious looking sculpture in a secret cupboard. Next day, "Dr. Paige" (Carrie Wiita) and her husband "Cooper" (James Urbaniak) arrive at their door to announce the death of the owners and to give her step-brother ("Alex") his marching orders. Why? Well it turns out that she knows that the money is on the house, but doesn't know where it is! Can the lads smuggle it out un-noticed? Then what will they do with it? Buy an house, or maybe donate to some Bhutanese orphans, or then again - maybe porpoises with purpose could get the cash? The police (Ana Ortiz) are quickly on the case, too, and as the couple lurch from one self-induced catastrophe to another it becomes clear that they are all going to have to cooperate if anyone is to stay out of jail. It is quite good fun for the first half hour. Stereotypical, yes, but there's a degree of chemistry between Harrison and Urie and some fun bitching with half-sister Wiita but the story doesn't really go anywhere but down after that as the plot runs out of ideas and veers just to close to cheesy farce for my liking. The opening titles reminded me a little of the "Pink Panther" but that was as quirky as it got. It's watchable daytime telly fodder but that's the height of it.

What an intolerable film!!

I could only finish it by increasing the playback speed by 100% !!!

Randy Harrison's pace of delivery was a special form of torture. I don't know if it was his acting style, or the writing, or the directing! Probably all three!

Such a pity considering the caliber of the cast and the promise the plot held. We should have definitely seen more of Ana Ortiz and Scott Wolf - their story lines were a LOT juicier than that of flat-lining Alex and Richard.

Definitely give this movie a very big miss.

David Michael Barrett is the culprit behind this piece of Cali crap. His awful screenplay gave the actors, including Randy Harrison of the series, 'Queer as Folk' ten years earlier, very little to work with. Other than Harrison's performance, which was mediocre at best, there is little substance here. The story is an attempt, albeit a bad one, to highlight the subjects of honesty, integrity and friendship among a group of morally questionable people. Barrett and Greg Sterling who wrote this monstrosity, picked southern Cali as the venue for this cinematic waste of time. I guess given the cast of the plastic characters who populate 'Such Good People', that might have been the only correct decision this inept team made. I give this picture a 'DWYT' rating, Don't Waste Your Time!

Two points each for Randy Harrison and Michael Urie who are cute as hell and somehow invest their stereotypical gay characters with a degree of conviction that this movie in no way deserves. If one were being generous one might say that Such Good People is a well-intentioned homage to the screwball comedy. It has stashes of hidden money, kidnapped dogs, priceless antiques, inept hit men, befuddled cops and all manner of laborious misunderstandings and double deceptions. Sadly, none of it is quite smart enough or quite funny enough to warrant any suspension of disbelief. So the madcap antics never cease to seem contrived and unbelievable, and the plot never really gathers momentum and generates its own crazed logic, as a screwball comedy should. But, hey, as gay screwball comedies go, it's at least a worthy effort.