Okay, but quite disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (2 December 2015)

Okay, but quite disappointing. Had huge potential, and started out well - large degree of intrigue, and incredibly funny at times. Lost its way in the middle section - drifting aimlessly. Final section was worse - random, and tried to throw in some meaningless hippy philosophy to boot.
It was as if the director, Grant Heslov, was trying to emulate the Coen Brothers in making a funny, quirky, snappy-dialogued yet clever-plot movie. He even recruits two Coen Brothers regulars - George Clooney and Jeff Bridges - to try to give it a Coen Brothers feel. Unfortunately, that is where the similarity ends. This is certainly no Coen Brothers movie. They don't ever lose focus.
Good cast - George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey - does their best, but their talents are wasted, through either being miscast, or due to the mediocre plot and direction. Clooney and McGregor are great in their roles, but Kevin Spacey is badly miscast. Strangely, Jeff Bridges seems miscast too. You would think the role suited him - the disheveled, loony hippy - very similar to The Dude in Big Lebowski. He seems strangely flat in the role, like he was trying too hard to be the loony hippy.
Overall, the over-the-top humour and premise of the movie make it likable, though it could have been so much better.