On the Menu: FRENEMY (2009)
Ingredients: Matthew Modine, Callum Blue, Adam Baldwin, Paul Adelstein and Zach Galifianakis. Directed by Gregory Dark. Run time: 80 minutes. Rated: R.
At First Bite: Picked this up because Galifianakis was on the cover.
Tough to Swallow: The movie is 80 minutes long and, despite being the prominent figure on the front and back on the DVD, Galifianakis is only in the first 25 minutes (and just 13 of those).
The summary on the back of the DVD has nothing to do with this movie:
After a group of friends witness a horrifying crime, they wonder how they were lucky enough to escape, unharmed, while one friend did not. Through this self-discovery they start to understand the meaning of their own hilarious yet twisted fate. As their time starts to run out, the chance at redemption isn't too far behind.
There is no group of friends. There's no hilarity. How is this listed as a comedy?
Modine's laugh and accent are ridiculous.
There's a scene where Mr. Jack (Modine) and Sweet Stephen (Blue) are walking down the sidewalk, and the cameraman goes to pan too early for the end of the scene. I didn't understand why they just didn't reshoot that.
The credit for Steadicam Operator is misspelled as Stedicam Operator.
Something to Chew On: It was shown in film festivals under the title LITTLE FISH, STRANGE POND.
Ron Jeremy has a cameo.
Modine is also one of the film's executive producers.
Somehow, 36 people gave this movie a rating of 10 on IMDb.com.
Aftertaste: The characters spout pretentious lines about evil, fate and intuition throughout. I'm not sure what point they're actually trying to make. The movie lacks cohesion even though Mr. Jack tries to explain how all the events are connected because "evil begets evil."
There were two things I liked about this movie: 1) Stephen's rant in the movie theater where he confronts the couple who are talking during the movie, and 2) Stephen's line "I wish my life were more like a Burt Reynolds movie."
Those two things aside, this movie is 80 minutes of blah.
Another line from the movie seems to point out why I am one of the fewer than 200 people who have seen this piece of crap: "You were more curious than the others."
Rating:
Posts
I Liked it.
ReplyDeleteBetter than most of the crap on TV.
Nobody cares about your opinion of Frenemy.
ReplyDeleteI liked it too.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't even find it on imdb. Why? Very strange. Seems ok
ReplyDeleteeh good movie tbh
ReplyDeleteIt’s actually really good. This guy doesn’t get it
ReplyDeleteIt seems people tried to overthink the movie. Stephen killed the woman serial killer style, cut up into pieces, cleans everything up and disposes of the body. He snaps when he realizes he lost his wallet, assuming it is at the victims apartment. Mr Jack is the personification of his of the struggle of that dilemma. He assumes he can't go home, because when they realize the woman is missing and go to her apartment they will find his wallet and go there. A part of him believes maybe he lost or left his wallet somewhere else. He is basically retracing his steps looking for the wallet. The porn store was robbed, the clerk was shot, the joke was simple. Why would someone rob a porn store? He knows why he was there, the cop knows why he was there, why was the robber there? They were there to buy drugs, Stephen can't say he was there to buy drugs, the owner can't say he was dealing drugs, and the cop wasn't there for a robbery (the robber was there for the drugs). The cop goes to the noise complaint after the shooting, finds Stephens wallet, and at the time it isn't that important, more of a coincidence. But, Stephen knows why the cop was at the porn store. When the cop finds the body, realizes who the woman is, he realizes if he arrests Stephen there is a good chance it will come out he is corrupt. At one point when Mr Jack says he lives by intuition and assumption, it is the realization that he can't find the wallet, it has to be at the crime scene and the police have or will find it. When they are in the studio and the cop shows up, during the confrontation, Stephen dies by giving himself to Mr Jack, letting that aspect of his personality run things. It is okay to be bad, just not addicted to being bad, wasn't meant to be very deep. The addiction to it is what led to him making the mistake.
ReplyDelete