Scorched
Tags: revenge, stupid, feel-good

Plot synopsis:
Sheila Rilo (Silverstone) is a bank teller at Desert Savings Bank in a small desert town. Her boyfriend is Rick Becker (Joshua Leonard), the bank manager who was informed by his superiors that he would be fired if the bank's ATMs were to be robbed just one more time. Sheila and Rick have spent several years together in their on-again off-again relationship, in which he uses her until something better comes along; after Sheila pays for most of Rick's education, he leaves her for his tutor. Sheila decides to exact revenge on Rick by robbing the bank and getting him fired.
On the same night, Stuart (Paulo Costanzo) and Jason (Woody Harrelson), two other tellers from the same bank, have also decided to rob the bank. Stuart's plan is to steal $250,000 from the bank and bet the entire amount on one game of roulette in Las Vegas. Stuart, who is desperate for excitement in his life, is doing this on the suggestion of his friend Max (David Krumholtz) even though the intelligent Stuart is usually the one talking Max out of his hare-brained ideas and get-rich-quick schemes.
Jason is a nature lover who lives with an orphaned duck. He was promoted to assistant bank manager, a position with much more responsibility but only a $0.55 per hour raise. He feels the bank owes him for years of loyal and underpaid service and he decides to get even by robbing the safety deposit box of a mean-spirited local millionaire, Charles Merchant (Cleese). Merchant, who got rich from making infomercials and selling videotapes on how to get rich quickly on the real estate market, is the person that shot Jason's duck's mother, therefore making easier Jason's decision to rob Merchant's safety deposit box.
Jason is not the only one with a plan for revenge against the local tycoon. A disgruntled clothing store employee, Shmally (Cook), takes her revenge against Merchant the same night by having Carter (Marcus Thomas) help her throw eggs at Merchant's home. Carter Doleman is Shmally's friend and roommate and the bank's newest employee. Due to his inability to dress well and his lack of ability to get a job on his own, Shmally agreed to help him. When Carter was called for an interview at the bank, Shmally gave Carter a make-over, dressed him up properly and coached him on how to pass the interview. Anxious and excited about starting his first day of work, hesitant Carter lets himself be dragged out of bed by Shmally so that he can help her egg Merchant's house.

Review: Devoid of any hype "Scorched", is one of those movies, which totally takes you by surprise, and I mean this in the best of ways.
It reminded me of Nick Gomez's "Drowning Mona", because it is set in a small town, its fresh, off-beat, and very funny.
The movie tells the tale of average people who are fed up with the problems of everyday life, and so decide to take their revenge by robbing the local bank, which happens to be their place of work.
The movie is well written, and awesomely directed by Grazer.
Even the casting works very well, by mixing established, semi-established and young and up-coming actors, which include John Cleese, Alicia Silverstone, Woody Harrelson, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Paulo Costanzo..
Really Funny Heist Comedy.
This film is really funny.
The hilarious ice cream scene kept us laughing for at least a couple of minutes.
Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone and Paulo Costanzo are 3 Bank Employees who rob the bank where they work.
John Cleese is laugh out loud funny as the evil Mr. Merchant.
(His infomercial is hysterical.) There is some classic Cleese comedy here.
Woody Harrelson had the audience rolling as he struggles to get into Merchant's house.
Rachael Leigh Cooks' fantasy sequences are pretty wild.
There are a lot of great laughs in this film.
I picked this movie off the shelf at random and figured, the cast wasn't so bad (judging from the cover) and i had time to spare so why not.
It was amusing and kept me entertained (something a movie should do).
i got nothing.Point is, if you are ever looking for a good movie that isn't heavy on the morals and you don't have to concentrate to hard to watch, this is the movie.
A good laugh and not a waste of time..
I bought this film new for $2.98 because I had to spend money somehow...I thought it was going to be a poor, lame and dreary pain.From the opening scene to the very end, I really enjoyed this.The comedy timing was awesome and the cast was well chosen.This is a very simple but funny story which is a real treat.Not overly long on time, it makes up for in humor, and not sick or foul mouthed grade four humor...but natural laughter.This tops anything with Jim Carrey or any of the American Pie movies or anything with Eddie Murphy, simply because it doesn't try to outdo itself.It flowed very nice and the timing of it all matched up even though there was 1 flaw...and that was concerning a minor oversight.For a movie made with a very small budget in terms of movie making, this comes to the top as far as I'm concerned.And for Rachel Cook...yeah....oh baby...she is sweet in her natural beauty and wearing her super-hero getup in here is definitely not going to make my eyes sore...Clever, sharp, witty and just awesome.I'm very happy that I picked it up..
I had no real expectations of the film, and I had no idea what it was about, other than who was in it, and the cover looked like a good heist kind of movie.
Not only was it actually funny, and not just trying to be funny and then totally failed during the trial, but actually, truly funny.The lines were well-written, the acting was all right on, and I thought everyone was perfect for the characters they'd been given except for one person, and that was Woody Harrelson.
He was good, but I just don't consider him all that funny, and so it was kind of a bad choice, in my opinion anyway, to cast him in this role.Alicia Silverstone was really good, surprisingly enough, and didn't carry any of her 'Clueless' days along with her for this role.
John Cleese was just right for the role that he was given, David Krumholtz was annoyingly good (because that's what his character required), and drum roll please...the best person in the whole movie was, Paulo Castanzo.
He delivers his lines perfectly and without failure, always makes each and every one of his scenes priceless and memorable.The basic plot of this film is that there are three employees of a bank in a small no-name town, who all want to rob the bank for different reasons.
The movie starts off at the end, and works it's way backwards, so that you see what happens, in order for the rest of the film to make sense.
Although we won't be seeing any Oscar nominations for this film, it still was noteworthy and definitely worth the rental fee.
There is no sex, no violence, and no language as far as I remember, so the whole film would be appropriate for younger audience viewers.I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it without question.
It's rare that a movie like this comes along, that's quick and smart.
Undoubtedly the funniest bits are the extremely varied ways in which Woody Harrelson's character messes up - occasionally predictable, but well acted slapstick at its best.
John Cleese was middling, best at the end, while the opening sequence has a splendid running gag and a marvellous outbreak by Alicia Silverstone.
Perhaps Rachael Leigh Cook's and Paulo Costanzo's talents are underused, and the actor who played George Sr. in Arrested Development makes only a guest appearance.
I hope there will be more good writing like this from Joe Wein..
The acting is pretty solid, Costanzo is excellent.
There is no violence, if a bit of the physical comedy can come off as disturbing.
The moment the opening sequence began, the music and visual style of the movie had me.
I wasn't expecting anything from the film, so it was a complete surprise to become so hooked on this charming little story.I would have liked to have seen less of John Cleese, his rehashing of his old Basil Fawlty role was really tired and out of place but I really appreciated the casting in general.
To sum up, I loved this movie.
I'd recommend this movie to anyone who loved a film like Raising Arizona.
I arrived at this site after searching under the keywords: Alicia Silverstone, Film, Desert and Bank.
In other words, although I couldn't remember the name of the film, since there are certain scenes that occasionally come to mind, I thought I'd try to find it.
The only negative point I can remember is with reference to John Cleese whose part was perhaps not entirely satisfying.
I loved the interviews between the bank manager and Alicia Silverstone's character - very, very watchable..
The comedy surrounding the heist is quite funny and John Cleese, towards the latter part of the movie, is laugh out loud hilarious.
The subplot particularly the one surrounding the grudge Harrelson's character holds against Charles is one of the brighter parts of the movie.
Woody Harrelson and Paulo Costanzo act well.
Alicia Silverstone makes for sizzling eye candy but her performance is not up to marks.
In the end, it makes for a decent one-time watch..
This movie was an amazing surprise!
It's a great comedy made with intelligence and clever humour.
The plot starts to be a little confusing, because we're introduced, in the beginning, to many characters in a row.
But then, when it develops, we start to know their "stories" and then we understand their "motivations" to the assault, and we even begin to support the guys who are doing the supposed "wrong thing" The film has its moments in comedy but it also does some critics to the society.
I can remember those about the job interviews These scenes are just hilarious (and very sarcastic either!).The acting is also great!
It's done by some very well known actors as Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone and the great master of comedy John Cleese.It's a very good and intelligent comedy!.
I loved this movie!
Also, watch Doleman's face during the opening credits.
And watch the two "Monday" bank scenes closely.
Why was that scene filmed twice (other than the different character perspectives)?
These and other oddities that aren't tied to the plot make it clear that the director/writers/actors enjoyed making the movie which makes it fun to watch.
I'd love to know where it was filmed and how accurate the bank temperature display was!
I have never seen a more hilarious movie!.
Alicia Silverstone is back in full force here to prove she's no longer just the girl from Clueless.I began watching with an open mind and finished watching with a strong opinion,THIS MOVIE IS EXCELLENT!Run and tell your friends to see this movie so they can see what a jewel this film really is..
A fun comedy for any Paulo Costanzo fan..
This movie is about three bank tellers who are ready to make drastic changes in their lives and over the same weekend each decide to rob different parts of the bank unbeknownst to each other.
So does Rachael Leigh Cook.
As Paulo's roommate she plays a Dungeons and Dragons fanatic who is set on getting revenge on a John Cleese because she bought his get rich quick material after seeing it on an infomercial.
I also saw this in Cannes and thought it was the best comedy there..
"Scorched" is a silly comedy romp about the antics of a motley bunch of unrelated people in a small desert community who plan to rob the same bank about the same time on the same morning of the same day.
On the upside, the film offers a good good cast, plenty of familiar faces, and gets busy and stays busy with slapstick and wackiness all the way to the end.
Watchable though barely recommendable, "Scordhced" isn't a film the players are going to be proud to have on their resumes but should be an enjoyable watch for the less than sophisticated comedy palate, comedy junkies, fans of the players, etc.
I saw this movie at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival with several of the film's main stars in attendance.
About an internal bank robbery, the idea is comically interesting, but the screenplay is dull and the acting really fell short.
Alicia Silverstone is stuck in airhead-land; Woody Harrelson's attempt at slapstick comedy is just plain goofy; Rachel Leigh Cook overdoes her performance by exaggerating her facial expressions and motorcycle rebel character; finally, Paulo Costanzo was like Jerry Seinfeld trying to be serious.
One of the best parts about the film was its opening credits, with one name appearing in the form of a tattoo..
I saw this movie in the only theatre playing it in the state of Texas.
No plublicity, and no profit made it a box office bust, but trust me on this one, it is a good movie.
It is worth a watch if only to see Rachael Leigh Cook in that warrior princess outfit..
Scorched is a good movie.
It has a good set up and seems to have been really thought-out and had a lot of work put into it, making it an entertaining movie.
I like it when there are a bunch of characters and they all kind of have there own stories and they come together at one point or at the end of the story.
Example, when Shmally and Doleman where running from Merchant and Sheila and Mark got involved near the bank.
I'm surprised the Wein brothers never came out with another movie.
I liked Marcus Thomas' role in the movie, Doleman.
Great movie Wein brothers!.
Rachael Leigh Cook is an all time favorite of mine, and is awesome in every movie she's in.
Woody Harrelson is always funny.
John Cleese rocks the house.
David Krumholtz is a brilliant actor and i hope to see a lot more of him cause he is funny as heck.
And Marcus Thomas was an excellent casting choice for Doleman cause let me tell that man is funny, i sure hope he does more movies cause i'd watch every one of em.
So funny movie~.
While watching this movie,I never anticipated it was such a excellent one,all the characters are so real,it's a story about grassroots,not like many of the typical blockbusters,using all kinds of special effects to give people visual shock and create so called world heroes to save the world,those films just make me feel tedious and repugnant,but this one is definitely special,all the characters are so real and everything is so familiar to our real life,the most interesting thing is ,even though the whole story is rather funny,but all the characters in the movie looks very serious,maybe that's what we called'cold humor' And it's not just funny,also meaningful,for many times the roles in the movie repeated cheese,and bottom chain,i think this film is about the life of the bottom chain people,all feel so tired of struggling to make the living,so finally due to different reasons they all broke out on weekends,and the most funny thing is they all succeeded:( every cheese win,and Carter,who shouted' The cheese stands alone!!!' and 'I eat cheese!' also been 'upgrated' over'cheese class'~ The most funniest scene for me is when Woods prowled into Mr. Merchant's house,his tie got caught on the fence,and he still wondered for several seconds,then suddenly realized the situation and began to struggle fiercely....I almost laughed to tears:).
One of the funniest movies I've ever watched and I've watched a lot.
No wonder, there's John Cleese in the cast and a very funny Woody Harrelson, too, as well as a hilarious Pomeranian, as gifted as the one in "The Big Lebowski".
Throw in some moments of suspense, a well structured plot, a good job at editing and a score that contributes to the feelgood atmosphere and you've got a classical comedy..
terrible muddled script, at points i laughed but for all the wrong reasons.
has good acting, but simply not worth your time.
Even on a small budget the film lost money...no wonder!.
Boring and laugh-less, this was a real waste of time.I was expecting something like "Rat Race", but that's not what this was.Rachel Leigh Cook and Alicia Silverstone were unappealing and, in fact, annoying.Woody Harrelson and John Cleese, two old comic pros, were unfunny at best, at worst completely tedious.The only chuckle inducing moment: The line "This is the worst date I've ever been on." The problem is that it also reflected the way I felt about the movie..
A very amusing comedy-of-errors farce in which the lives of multiple characters become intertwined in ways none of them are aware of at the time.
But while the moral ambiguities of this film are regrettable, the situations faced by the characters are too absurd to be taken seriously, and hence it succeeds as a farce.
In reality, only a certifiable moron would conclude that this film was actually tying to promote robbery as an excusable act, it's just that morons aren't as rare as they used to be..
Fun comedy.
*** SPOILERS *** *** SPOILERS *** *** SPOILERS ***Funny and clever comedy about a bank robbery, done completely from the inside.
Three of the bank workers decide to rob the bank, all for various reasons, unbeknownst of each other's plans, and during the same weekend.There are more characters, for example the Mr. Merchant ("millionaire many times over") done very well by John Cleese, the unemployed slacker Doleman, who is determined not to be the cheese, and his girlfriend Shmally who is mad at Mr. Merchant since his products did not live up to her expectations.All the actors are doing their parts very well.
Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone and Paulo Costanzo are all great as the disgruntled bank workers, and Marcus Thomas good also.
Now the ever charming Rachael Leigh Cook is one of my favourite actresses.
Her character was funny but maybe a few inches to the side of the central story, as the only major thing she does is to go egg Merchant's house, which in turn leads to other situations for both her and Doleman.
Still I feel that her character could have been just a little more central.All in all, maybe not the most original storyline, but still funny, clever and with good casting.
You wont laugh your head off, and the humour is not like Jim Carrey, but it's definitely good humour in this one..
One since Clueless, one, because he now realises White Men Can't Jump, and the other, because he lives with the chief elf from The Santa Clause.Plus, their boss was one of the missing crew from The Blair Witch Project, so now they've just realise that that was a hoax too.This is one of those movies that tries really hard to be farcical, but ends up just a watchable mess, thanks to the performances from all involved.
The film is set into three different subplots, one involving a dead duck and a worthless appearance from Cleese.
Another has Silverstone wanting revenge on her ex, and the final one is about two guys wanting more, but one having a conscious.Cook is in it for no other reason than to divert Cleese from Harrelson, and even though she is a great actress, she doesn't need to be in this.So all in all, it's perfectly watchable, but it all ends up being just.
This came on TV yesterday, and I saw that it had some actors that I like, so I watched it.
While most of it was funny, there were some parts I just found annoying, like Rachael Leigh Cook's warrior-woman fantasies.
She was barely connected to the other characters and didn't really affect the main plot.
I was also sometimes annoyed by the Woody Harrelson-John Cleese scenes.
If you have any qualms about watching animals get hurt for laughs, there are a couple scenes you won't appreciate.
But I enjoyed the rest of the movie for what it was - fluffy entertainment.
Doesn't require strict attention and most of the characters are extremely likable, especially Alicia Silverstone and Ivan Sergei.