Can't Say Enough Good Things

Rating: Null/10 (26 March 2004)

I don't know what movie was "God-Awful" but it certainly wasn't this one. I went in expecting your standard fare teen-dramady, and came out unable to stop talking about how good it was. From the very first scene, I was laughing out loud almost constantly. The story and main characters may seem a bit formulaic at first, but throughout the course of the movie display a remarkable amount of depth and individuality that most movies like this lack. On almost every occasion where the writers and actors could have taken the easy way out and pandered to the low brow expectations of the audience, they instead took it a different route that gave the film more substance and character.
This film had humor, but it also had a lot of heart that did not feel spoon-fed. Sure, you've got the very John Cusack-esque main character, some wacky sidekicks, and a lot of eye-candy, but the lead actors really do get you invested in the outcome of their story. Emile Hirsch and Timothy Olyphant gave especially strong performances, and Elisha Cuthbert was not only lovely as ever, but able to portray a strong female lead instead of constantly being the victim as in "24".
One thing to highlight is the use of music in the movie. Instead of the expected soundtrack of mind-numbing teen-pop that serves only as background noise, there was an interesting choice of a lot of older and more obscure songs. The music served a purpose in setting the mood and atmosphere of the film, and did a remarkable job of adding to instead of detracting from the emotions and feeling of important scenes.