See This Movie

I have a fairly interesting DVD collection... it's not huge, but it's got some GREAT selections in it... ranging from summer blockbuster smashes to movies people have never even heard of. Movies I'D never even heard of, until I purchased them.

Blockbuster is to blame for this... I have this little problem where I'll buy anything under 4 dollars, even if I haven't the slightest idea what it is, and Blockbuster CONSTANTLY has used DVDs for sale under 4 dollars. (Or they pull this 4 dvds for 20 bucks crap...) So, I frequently build my dvd collection with used dvds. Movies I've heard of, and movies that just capture my fancy.

Movies that just capture my fancy... that one phrase is responsible for my owning movies such as Black Sheep, The Irrefutable Truth About Demons, Bottle Shock, and See This Movie.

That's right, it's actually the title of a movie. My blog title was not meant to tell you to go see a movie that I absolutely adored, it is merely the title of the movie I bought at Blockbuster yesterday. Why? Well... there are 4 reasons.

1. It was under 4 dollars. Like I said, it's a sickness.
2. It was called "See This Movie". I'm serious... when I saw the title of the movie, I was like... okay. If you say so, sure, I'll see this movie. Come on, it was under 4 dollars, so it wasn't like it was going to cost me a lot to comply!
3. It has Seth Meyers and John Cho. I've only ever seen John Cho in Harold & Kumar and Star Trek, so I thought it would be nice to see him in a different role. To see how good of an actor he really is... and I totally have a crush on Seth Meyers... he's a big reason why I watch Weekend Update so much... he's a cutie patootie! He's like a mix between Frankie Munez and Tom Cruise... before Tom Cruise went crazy... Top Gun Tom... lol.
4. It was a festival film. It won awards at the Malibu Film Festival and the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival... which means it's a festival film... and I LOVE festival films. I feel they're done MUCH better than huge blockbusters, probably because they don't have as big a budget, so they can't rely on special effects and have to rely on that little forgotten thing called plot, and his best friend character development.

Needless to say, I bought the movie, my plans fell through, and I ended up watching it... and I really liked it!!!!

The Plot:

"See This Movie" is a mockumentary about... film making. Jake Barrymore (Seth Meyers) sees himself as an amazing movie maker... a fact supported when he graduates at the top of his class from a three day film school with best friend Larry Finkelstein (John Cho). While celebrating their graduation, Larry spots Jake's ex girlfriend in a magazine, discovering that she's a programmer for the Montreal Film Festival. Thinking this could be his big break, Jake pulls some strings with his ex, scoring a spot in the program for his revolutionary, ground breaking, controversial film. The only problem? He hasn't made it yet. Jake and Larry now have 3 weeks to make a film that will live up to the hype, or risk going down in history as the worst filmmaker/producer pair ever.

The Characters:

Jake Barrymore - Director/Lead (Seth Meyers):

Jake is, for lack of a better word, an idiot. He knows absolutely nothing about filmmaking, but operates under the pretense that he does after his short film "which way hollywood" was chosen as the "Student Film of the Class" in his 3 day film school. He is arrogant, naive, stupid, and self centered... his only drive for making his film seem to be making himself look cool, and becoming famous.

There is no depth the Jake... that's not to say his character isn't well written. On the contrary, he's VERY well written... but a guy like Jake has no depth to him at all. Even during his character's huge turn around, he's still a jerk. Meyers does a WONDERFUL job pulling him off, taking a perfectly unlikeable character and making him slightly likeable at the lowest possible level. You don't fall in love with Jake Barrymore, but it's impossible to hate him. Especially when his idea just *might* work.

Larry Finkelstein - Producer (John Cho):

Larry first comes off as the stereo typical best friend. Then he appears to be as big an idiot as Jake. Further into the movie, he comes off as the stereo typical shy guy, the one everyone pushes around. Still later, he seems like a person that just knows not to argue with idiots and, seeing as that's all he's surrounded with, he just keeps quiet. However, as the movie ends, you realize, Larry is just a REALLY good producer. He says what needs to be said, does what needs to be done, and keeps his mouth shut when he deems it necessary. He lets Jake push him around because his reputation as a producer relies on this film being a hit, and pissing off the director won't get that done. He is Jake's polar opposite - Larry's character has so much depth to him, you don't even get all of your questions about him answered.

I've never seen Cho in a more adorable role. To be honest, I don't care much for Harold & Kumar, and while I love him in Star Trek, Sulu is more of a serious character. However, Cho's portrayal of Larry is absolutely ADORABLE. He is the exact opposite of Jake - you love Larry, you want to hug him half the time, defend him the other half. He's just a likeable guy, and many of Cho's mannerisms add to that. 1 of the reasons I'm glad I saw this was to see cho in a different role, to see him in something other than Star Trek and respect him as an actor, and Larry did that for me.

Martin Hughes - Editor/Lighting (Jim Piddock):

Martin is an interesting goose. His character is likeable, than unlikeable. You hate him, you feel sorry for him, you hate him again, you cheer for him, and then you're just weirded out... right before cheering for him again.

Martin is a bit of a mentor for Jake, even though there's no real reason FOR him to be a mentor. Like Jake, he's looking to make it... he's not exactly THRILLED that he's been teaching a 3 day film school for a large portion of his life. After a bit of convincing, Marting agrees to accompany Larry and Jake on their trip to Montreal, even though the idea of advertiseing a film that hasn't been made is nothing short of madness in his eyes.

Annie Nicole - Programmer/ex-girlfriend (Jessalyn Gilsig):

Annie's reputation - and career - weighs heavily on Jake's film being good... a fact that she isn't too excited about when she finds out Jake lied to her to get his spot in the festival. She spends most of the movie frantically trying to track down Jake's non existant film to view before it is premiered in front of her bosses and collegues. Little does she know she's on a hunt that won't yeild any spoils is Jake doesn't get his arse in gear...

What I Liked:

Almost everything. The film was very well paced, had a perfect balance of everything absurd, and was executed famously. Even the humor was fairly clean, though the language was a bit strong. The plot was somewhat predictable, but also had a number of twists that you didn't see coming... as well as a few that you kind of saw coming, then didn't see coming, then kicked yourself for not catching. The ending is slightly predictable, yet not quite, and ultimately satisfying. It rounded out to an extremely likeable film.

What I DIDN'T Like:

There wasn't a lot I didn't like... and nothing to glaringly comes to mind... for the most part, I was a little peaved by a few questions that were left unanswered. For instance, they never explain why Jake has a camera crew following him around wherever he goes... they never explain exactly when he's filming and when he's not... and why no one else is ever weirded out by the fact that Jake has camera people following him, even though they acknowledge the cameras all the time.

I also didn't like the Sam the Drug Dealer thing... that didn't really strike me as well written or necessary, and it kind of took away from the movie.

Finally, there's one question at the end about Larry that you don't really get answered, and I wish we would... other than that, it was a very good movie.

So - I guess the bottom line is, See This Movie!