Randal's first movie is a good one
Pros: Surprisingly funny, well-acted and sweet
Cons: I dunno.
The Bottom Line: It's simple and it's an independent movie. Accept that, then get ready to laugh.
I had heard about this movie since 2003. Since I am a Kevin Smith fan and Jeff Anderson was a funny guy on-screen and off, I'd always been curious to see the film. Even more so after I had learned that this film was how Kevin Smith discovered Trevor Fehrman and cast him as Elias in Clerks II. I was not exactly waiting with baited breath for this DVD but I bought it when it came out, and was pleasantly surprised.
The movie centers around Jeremy (Jeremy Sisto), an amiable guy who lives in Las Vegas and returns home to New Jersey on the eve of his wedding to his fiancee, Kerri (Rashida Jones) to sort things out because Kerri has called the wedding off and he has no idea why. So he joins up with his two best friends, Gil (Anderson himself) and Biscuit (Fehrman), who run a lawn business by day and break into people's houses and rearrange furniture by night, to sort things out. Kerri joins up with her friend Marty (Heather Paige-Kent), who helps her sort things out from a female perspective.
That's the beauty of this movie in that you see the perspective on the relationship between Kerri and Jeremy from both his and her point-of-view so there is enough material for both genders to watch and enjoy. Men can watch Jeremy and say, "Yeah, you'll never figure chicks out, man." And women can watch Kerri and say, "Yeah, I'm with a guy who doesn't appreciate me too."
Plus, long time View Askew fans will get a kick out of the characters of Gil and Biscuit, who are kind of like Now You Know's answer to Jay and Silent Bob. Anderson and Fehrman did not know each other before the film but right away they have the same chemistry they displayed so effectively when they went on to play Randal and Elias together. Gil is not all that dissimilar from Randal Graves, he has the same cynical attitude but he's much smarter and less abrasive. Biscuit (and I'll get to the evolution of this character in a minute) is the polar opposite of Elias, but he's still kind of out there, and I actually liked Biscuit better than Elias.
Anderson says when he wrote the movie, when he created the character of Biscuit, he was thinking of a friend of his from high school named Andrew McCaleezi (apologies if the man reads this out there and finds his name misspelled) who had that nickname. He and Kevin Smith went to the same high school and do audio commentary on the DVD. Smith says he knew this Biscuit as well and he was all he saw when he read the script. But Anderson says when Fehrman read for it, he was told by the casting people that he was too young (20 at the time of casting) and too good-looking (Biscuit was written and performed as scraggy and unkempt). Smith says he agreed when he first saw him, saying, "That ain't a Biscuit, he's barely a Triscuit!" But could see why he cast Fehrman within listening to one or two lines. I could too because even though Fehrman doesn't look like a goof, he does a great job acting like one. Gil and Biscuit were even supposed to be the main characters when the idea was first conceived, and it was to be called Fun-Loving Criminals but then Anderson realized he needed a plot and thought up Kerri, Jeremy and Marty.
Another interesting thing about the movie is that, for a $380,000 movie it sure boasts a number of familiar faces, Jeremy Sisto from Clueless, Heather Paige-Kent, Rashida Jones, Edie McClurg from The Hogan Family, Earl Boen (Dr. Silverman in The Terminator movies), Liz Sherdian (Jerry Seinfeld's TV mom), Tool Time girl Debbie Dunning and Stuart Pankin. Anderson says this is because they were up against an impending actors' strike and anybody who wanted one last job came in to audition, since it was only an 18 day shoot.
I recommend this movie highly but I should warn you, the first time I watched, I wasn't paying too much attention and it came off like a Kevin Smith rip-off, but the next two times I saw it, I actually liked it better than Kevin's movies.
Recommended: Yes
Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older
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