My main reason for seeing this movie was for a couple of the cast members. Well, the trailer also showed some promise. If you like comedies that are fairly twisted with a dark sense of humor, you won’t be disappointed.

Writing: This is one of those movies where the comedy (and tragedy) is slowly built up. It’s a fun genre plot format that works pretty well for this movie. While the movie may not be outright as funny as the bitingly nasty and hilarious funereal comedy Eulogy, it definitely hits a lot of the marks right. Featuring a wide range of characters, the movie plays them off each other in amusing ways.

Production: Director Frank Oz is no stranger to sadistic and subversively twisted comedies, but this one is a bit more raw than he has normally directed. Between the heavy language and adult content of the film, it feels rather different than his previous work. It’s also a bit lower budget in feel (and probably actuality) as well. Still, it’s a solid production, which like the writing does a nice, slow build for comedic purposes.

Cast: The biggest draw for me in the cast was the great Alan Tudyk. And let me tell you, he really gets to come unglued in this performance. Nothing short of genuinely whacked out, and it’s a load of fun. Another cast member that I knew would be great was Peter Dinklage, and he is just that. Other cast members like Matthew Macfadyen definitely do a good job as well.

Music: Murray Gold is a composer I was rather familiar with thanks to his flat-out amazing work on the revived Doctor Who series. He lends this film a very bouncy and slightly dignified touch of class. It is surely designed to play as something of a counterpoint to the increasing level of chaos and comedy in the film. Gold’s score definitely benefits the movie in a number of ways.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 at 3:17 am and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.