The Suburbans - Ricordi ad alta fedeltà

I actually turned this movie off after an hour, when my wife suggested, "Maybe Oprah has something interesting on." No amount of booze could make this movie tolerable. I'm not sure what algorithm Netflix is using to suggest this film to me, but they need to hire some new mathematicians. Ben Stiller proves yet again he is a one-trick-pony here. Jennifer Love is...Jennifer Love. Will Ferrel -- god help me -- is under-utilized. Decent enough premise. Perhaps different editing could have helped? Maybe some T&A? If not, less adult-oriented humor so I could have played Candyland with the kids while suffering through the last 20 minutes? And for god's sake, a movie abut musicians sure could use a decent soundtrack!

I admit it, I saw this film only because of Jennifer Love Hewitt. My heart raced when I saw her hike up her skirt to show off her tatoos. Why you ask? because not only did I see a very beautiful body but it was the highlight of a movie that I wished performed better. Perhaps with better writers or actors like Chris Rock, Mike Myers who improv could have breathed some life into this flat film. 2 stars out of five.

I have rarely watched a movie I didn't enjoy at all. This is one of those movies. When I opened up the box, I noticed that the tape was halfway rewound, but now I realize that whoever had rented it before me had the good sense to turn it off halfway through and not even waste time rewinding it. This may be the worst movie I've ever seen. The premise is intriguing and Hewitt's presence attracted my attention, but I soon realized that 80 minutes is too long a time to watch these dull, pathetic characters in a directionless story that falls on its face. Toss this movie out in the road where it may be mercifully run over by a Suburban.

Almost every comment or review you will read about this one is accurate. Whether you like it or not is up to you. You might also see someone write something about the team making a good effort. This is true too.

You'll see some people saying there's just too much dialogue. This is true as well. And they'll mostly say Amy Brenneman is the one that stands out. And that's true too.

But the movie drags. For all the good intentions, for all the clever skits, it drags - and that's unfortunate. It's fun to watch - Bierko is a riot and Hewitt is gorgeous, and let's not forget the Stillers in a wacky portrayal - but it's bits and pieces, it's too disparate, it doesn't grab you through a well organised and successful plot - it's bits and pieces with a thread someone tried to sew through it all afterwards. The story doesn't have momentum of its own and the plot mechanisms seem contrived and arbitrary. And you don't feel any empathy for any of the characters - not even for Amy's. Not enough to keep you enjoying, really enjoying the movie, on the edge of your seat, and so forth and so on. And stylistically it tries to attack everything at once - and that's never going to work.

You may enjoy this one - minimally. And it isn't for their not making an effort. But there are important ingredients missing. The acting's mostly great, the writing too - there just isn't enough good plot packed story. It drags on.

Four guys Danny (Donal Lardner Ward), Rory (Tony Guma), Mitch (Craig Bierko), and Gil (Will Ferrell) are 30something friends who were once a big 80's one-hit band called The Suburbans. When they perform at Gil's wedding to help Mitch with a hot fan, a record company scout (Jennifer Love Hewitt) in the audience gets them a comeback show for their nostalgia showcase.

Donal Lardner Ward wrote/directed/star in this movie. Quite frankly, I don't know how he got so many then and future stars in this one movie. Ben Stiller and his dad try to ham it up as record studio suits. Will Ferrell is channeling an idiot bass player. However Will can't save this. The fact is the band doesn't have the comedic chops. Craig Bierko is fitting for the lead singer jerk. But the two writers Donal Lardner Ward and Tony Guma should not be lead actors. They really need to search for better comedians to do those roles. The writing is broadly unfunny, and the performances are generally flat.