No Way Jose

Jose lacks purpose and never committed himself fully to anything. He is singer in a band, Jose and the Joses, that plays at children birthday parties but refuses to write children's songs for example. He still borrows money from his sister who made moderate fame with You Tube make-up tutorials. When the real motives behind his name change to Jose come out and break up his relationship he has to re-evaluate his life. The movie works as an underdog character piece with pointy dialogue. It reminds slightly of Greenberg although less strong and slightly listless in it's execution. The performance of the cast alone is worth it though. O'Reilly and Goldberg deliver as a couple so do Siegel and Belknap as supportive friends. Being mediocre, it still has some true gems. Band membermGabe losing himself in solo is touching and Jose's conversation with his sister summer are truly phenomenal moments to name a few.

The story, so-called acting, soundtrack / music, unfunny dialogue, directing, cinematography, etc, etc Sucked major big time. Trgic, tragic, tragic, tragic and totally pathetic. AG and the rest of the crew actually paid themselves? Oy...

Flop is the first word I thought after seeing this movie.

Honestly I'm at a lose for words because Jose the main character in this story went from frustrated over aged rocker wannabe, to child molester, to chronic psychological neck pain patient, to inhibited boyfriend, to just a lot of talk with his fellow frustrated over aged rocker wannabe's.

And then the constant news feed of crime and violence in Mexico where Jose and his former but still attached girlfriend wanted to go for their honeymoon but she kicked him out because she discovered a long ago 'mistake' Jose got in trouble doing, and what was the purpose of the half-sister, and the pool woman?

The movie is like a balled up tangled string and all of Jose antics and talking can't undo the knots.

I like Adam Goldberg, he was one of the best things about the far too quickly cancelled 'Joey' spin-off, but this isn't a great film.

The dialogue feels improvised but not in a good way, and comes across as winging it. The direction is ploddy and ultimately this is a bit of a dark and dirty film.

It's a real shame, because Goldberg is such a talent, there's nobody else like him working currently, but this passion project falls very flat indeed.

Hopefully he'll bounce back and his next effort will be better than this was. With the right script he could be marvellous once again.

Not good though.

'NO WAY JOSE': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Adam Goldberg wrote, co-produced, directed and stars in this indie dark comedy flick. It was made on a budget of just $1 million and tells the story of a struggling musician, who's dumped by his fiancé; because she discovers a dark secret from his past. The film co-stars Ahna O'Reilly, Eric Siegel, Anna Belknap, Gillian Jacobs and Pat Healy. The material is not nearly as humorous, or as clever, as Goldberg thinks it is!

Jose Stern (Goldberg) is a 39-year-old musician, who's rock band can only get gigs at children's' parties. He's about to turn 40 and also wed his longtime girlfriend, Dusty (O'Reilly). While the two are in bed together, one night, Dusty learns a dark secret from Jose's past. What's worse though, is that he's been lying to her about it (since they met). So she dumps him, and kicks him out of their place. Jose sinks into even greater depression; and harasses his friends about it (Siegel and Belknap), while crashing on their couch.

I think I used to like Adam Goldberg, once upon a time, but now I think he's just annoying (in this film at least). He reminds me a little of Jay Baruchel; but Baruchel is much more gifted (and funny). This movie is kind of a pain to watch, if you feel the way that I do about Goldberg. His directing isn't bad, and he's still an OK actor, but his idea of comedy just doesn't work anymore.

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