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The Worst Film Ever

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As Good As It Gets

Absolutely brilliant

Although the rest of the film doesn't live up to the visceral and exciting opening, this is a good crime film by the controversial Larry Clark. Basically, in most crime films, everything goes wrong by the end, and that's no different here, so it treads familiar ground and doesn't really have anything new to say regarding juvenile delinquents, but Clark should be appreciated for his characterizations here. Every line of dialogue feels natural coming from each character's mouth, so the writing is very consistent, and the conversations that occur throughout the film are snappy and amusing for the most part. The critics were right about James Woods stealing the show, but the other three leads held their own well, and I was particularly impressed by the character transformation from Vincent Kartheiser.The Reverend character was pointless though, and his introductory scene is just an unnatural way of getting the guns in the main characters' hands. He could've been cut out altogether, especially since his dialogue wasn't very well written or as funny as the writers may have thought. I liked the music used, especially in the club scene and the ending, and the cinematography was better than I expected. It looked especially good in the finale. There's a single gunfight that takes place in the film, which is directed so well and realistically that I wanted to see more, but this isn't an action movie as much as it is a character study, so it was a smart move to keep the action to a bare minimum. I get a real kick out of crime films with non-linear structures, and this is one of them. There's a plot, but the movie doesn't take a straightforward approach to get through it.This film definitely isn't for everyone though, and I was a bit worried as it went one because it started to become tedious and lose my interest, but it manages to drastically pick up at the end as tragedy rears its ugly head. This isn't a film for anyone who's squeamish when it comes to vivid violence though, as well as people poking needles in their skin, but this is a Larry Clark film, so what else do you expect? He doesn't give a damn about his characters here, he's showing how pathetic and miserable their lifestyles are, and thus, one shouldn't expect to feel any sympathy for them even though the actors bring some added personality to the table. This isn't as bad as his other films in terms of what is shown, so I guess one could call it his most accessible film, and most are likely to think it's his most entertaining effort.

Melanie Griffith is excellent; how many times do you get to say that? She hasn't been this good since SOMETHING WILD. In fact all the acting is outstanding - Natasha Gregson Wagner and Vincent Kartheiser are scary real; James Woods rarely gets his own movie, and this proves again that when you want to cast a scumbag's scumbag, you call this man and you ask nicely.The whole thing is better than it oughtta be by a significant factor. This is how you make a no-budget crime movie. Every scene moves the story, every line explains character, every shot reveals and compels. The music lends texture to a thinly designed world. And the locations are so gritty you will want to watch it with your shoes on.The story's nothing new to the crime couples-on-the-run genre. You got the obligatory drug deal gone bad, you got your ever-popular motel o.d. girl in underwear, you got another batch of criminals who think they're about seventy percent smoother than they actually are.But the dialog's sharp and the scenes are directed with the immediacy of vintage Friedkin or Grosbard. The kids having sex, the hideous claustrophobic gunfight, the kids arguing after she shoots up - sure, it's hard to take. But it's undeniably arresting. I haven't seen Larry Clark's other stuff on purpose, and I had to be talked into seeing this. Unpleasant as this world is, I'm glad I visited if only to enjoy a tale well told.

This is a very interesting, character-driven crime story with some exceptional performances from a diverse cast. At first the violence and drug use might seem a bit excessive or unrealistic, but I think this is a story with some real emotions and some real heart to it, superior to most modern efforts in this genre.Bobby (Vincent Kartheiser) is a young junkie in the Mid-West who gets badly beaten during a petty robbery attempt. He recuperates in the apartment of his girlfriend Rosie (Natasha Gregson Wagner), with the help of an older and more experienced criminal named Mel (James Woods). Mel recruits Bobby to help with a high-profile robbery, and they head out of town in Mel's sedan with Rosie and Mel's girl Sid (Melanie Griffith) in tow.The direction is exceptional here in this film, both in terms of how the actors are handled and in terms of the economy of the film-making and the pacing of the action. Even though in many ways Mel is a contradictory character (sometimes he respects Sid, other times he becomes abusive, and at the drop of a hat he adopts mannerisms of whoever he is with), he becomes a kind of mentor for Bobby. Likewise Sid takes Rosie shopping and tries to introduce her to shooting heroin with a needle instead of snorting it. It's pretty impressive how the director (Larry Clark) was able to get performances of pretty much equal intensity and depth from both the youngsters and the veterans, and I think it's significant also in the context of the film's content and message.It wouldn't be right to comment on the film without mentioning an excellent but brief character turn by Lou Diamond Phillips (as a homosexual fence). His character would belong in any self-respecting film noir, as he truly feels like a denizen of the abandoned places of America.The story loses a bit of steam towards the end, when the couples spend time recuperating from a botched deal at the house of "The Reverend" (James Otis), who seems like an interesting character but is not developed, leaving the audience wondering if he was a red herring or was simply trimmed during editing. But overall the film's pace is excellent and I was never tempted past the first few minutes to turn it off, so that is a recommendation in and of itself from this reviewer, who doesn't usually warm up to "new noir" too often.

What a dark start. Then rougher even. Wagner is neat. Direction is tight, fast and colorful. MG in bed with kid even before Demi Moore did. Good for ugly flick night. No need to get wasted since this will get you there. Given that it didn't date itself, I suspect that over time this will wear even better. Meaning it will hold up. Critics might have ignored this given Woods and MG doing low life scene, but time will tell.