underwhelmed...

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2005)

i was told by dozens of folks that this film would be great, change my life and all the usual nonsense that accompanies the latest quirky indie release... although it made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion, i found myself trying to find parts of the film to remember, and chuckling along to try and kid myself that i hadn't wasted £3.50 on a rental. fact is, it's OK. not bad. but i refuse to get drawn into a film where you can predict the next killer line, and draw absolutely nothing from it... the scene where the guy (forgive me, i can't remember his name) who's looking after the site they're trying to turn into a mall responds to the "good luck exploring the abyss" comment with a "you too" made me want to turn it off. Jesus Christ, how many more films do we need with twentysomethings who can't get over the whole 'there must be something bigger than this' problem? it's the reason that douglas coupland still makes a ruck of cash for knocking out the same story he's been doing since generation x. i loved his books up to and including girlfriend in a coma, but tired of the fact that imagery aside, they all say THE SAME THING. but the amount of awards and praise heaped on this kind of film just makes me lose my faith in people. the questions that this movie pose have been raised hundreds of times before, and without the snivelling lightweight soundtrack that accompanies it as well. watch it if there's NOTHING else for you to do, and even then only for the shirt that gets made out of the leftover material from the bathroom redecoration. otherwise, don't bother.