Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

vchimpanzee As in the TV series "The Office", which I never watched, a group of writers who meet periodically and call themselves "Authors Anonymous" is the subject of a documentary. In some scenes one or more members are being interviewed by someone we can't see or hear. In others it appears cameras are not following the group members, but occasionally someone talks to the camera or a character who is not part of the group asks about the cameras, so we can assume they are there.In the first scene, Alan and Colette are together at home. The first thing Colette does is talk baby talk to a dog. To me dogs aren't cute, so Colette is not scoring any points with me already. Adam is an eye doctor who carries a recording device constantly so he can record story ideas. Colette is a former masseuse who still likes yoga and meditation and is spoiled. Dr. Xiroman, who has taken a vow of silence, is her spiritual adviser.I think we see the entire group in the next scene, but I will go ahead and introduce the characters anyway.John K. Butzin (who, like Ed LaSalle, the most memorable character in a Mary Tyler Moore sitcom I can't remember the name of, uses his full name when talking about himself) is an older man who served in Vietnam and has written the book "Roaring Lion" about his experience. He is quite annoying but still a pleasure to watch somehow. Sigrid is his pretty German girlfriend.Hannah comes across as a dumb blonde in the interviews but seems more intelligent, if not educated, when talking with the other characters. Her book is called "Sleeping on the Moon". She lives with her divorced mother Maureen, who is nice.Henry delivers pizzas, cleans carpets, and struggles to produce anything as a writer. He wants to date Hannah, but is discouraged when she gets an agent Bernie, and later when she meets famous author Richard Brodwell. It is uncertain Henry and Hannah will ever be anything but friends.William is good-looking but very annoying, and I don't mean that in a good way. He doesn't produce much work either, but he gets on the nerves of people in restaurants as he writes down what they say for inspiration.The members of the group seem to get along pretty well at first, but over time they get on each others' nerves. Hannah is the first published author. Okay, that's not true. John K. Butzin pays $250 to have his book published, though there are mistakes. As each member of the group does something to upset one or more of the others, one wonders if the group will even be able to stay together. Hannah doesn't want to brag, but of course some in the group think her success means she is the star of the group so she is better than they are.Hannah and Henry try hard. Henry even introduces her to "The Great Gatsby", which she has never read. She has never read anything. Even a pretty waitress where they are eating has read the book and is impressed. I was going to say the actress has one line but makes the most of it, but she actually has many more lines later and shows that she was capable of more.David Kelleher is a memorable patient of Alan who might be able to help one or more members of the group make it as a writer.Kaley Cuoco was my main reason for being interested in this movie, even when it looked like a failure. She gives a great performance and is of course quite good-looking, especially in a tank top or shorts or both, or nothing but a man's dress shirt. She wears a spaghetti-strap top in one scene. But she has such a great personality. I won't say her looks don't matter because they are important to the plot, but they're not that necessary. And she's great with Henry, but not all that romantic. She wears glasses to read, but while I wasn't crazy about her first pair, her second pair look worse. No, in the photo representing the movie on IMDb, she's wearing a pair she tried but didn't like.Dennis Farina once again reminds us how much we have lost. He's not a particularly likable character, but one we can love to hate. His misfortunes are hilarious, helped along by Tricia Helfer.Teri Polo and I have a history. Her character in "Northern Exposure" was so unpleasant I all but quit watching the show. That's how bad it had gotten. And she's just as terrible here, at least to me. In the first scene she has pretty hair but not a pretty face. Later, with more makeup, she's somewhat good-looking. But her personality is really hard to take. She does have some good scenes that even I couldn't criticize. I believe people will like her. Just not me.Chris Klein is someone you want to root for, but watching his difficulties is actually kind of fun. He's pleasant enough.Overall, it was pretty good.

andreitt I'm a frustrated writer. I have written a lot of articles and feature stories of various topic, but I never began to write even one page of my first novel.At first, I don't know. The first few minutes of the film seem boring and an effort to watch. But as soon as you get to know all of the characters, it becomes interesting. The characters come from actual people or experience as far as I can tell. I, at least, identify with three of them.This film is a writer's movie and it gives one a glaring lesson for all who want to be a published author.

sofaqueen This film does not need to be endured, when the synopsis will do.I cannot understand the positive reviews and will leave their existence to the people who search for Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster. Mysterious, indeed. This film contains some pretty unnerving subtext, and is not at all what I would expect from a romantic comedy. That SHOULD have made it interesting. It's a snore.I assure you that this is not one of those movies that is so bad it's good. It does provide material for a potentially hilarious future film about the man who gave us this turkey. Or perhaps, a good horror film. Robin Williams could play the lead, convincingly. He'd be portraying David Congalton, the man responsible for this incoherent (not in a good way) tangential journey through the world of "real authors" vs "instant celebrities" who have not earned their success...and the men who love them? It is truly confusing, (not in a good way) to see the lead character (based on Congalton) mooning over Cuoco's cheery, inept, undeserving, bubble- headed blonde. Why would such a learned man fall for a girl with a heart of gold and the IQ of an eggplant? Duh. She's young and she is beautiful. And she looks up to him. Double sigh. How romantic...NOT. It was repulsive. So, one of the plot devices designed to hold your interest to the end, simply gives you the vague creeps. You can always watch a truly creepy film, something like "24 Hour Photo", if you want the creeps. Why settle for a whiff of the creeps if you are into creepy movies? And why would you want a whiff of the creeps from the protagonist of a romantic comedy? This movie made me cringe a little. Not enough to make it interesting, just enough to make it icky. One ends the film with the disturbing feeling that one has just wasted their time on an inside joke and vendetta that lives in the head of one other person. Congalton fancies himself a real author, and apparently above his audience, in this film. But if you research what he has written and had published, you can't help but feel like you just saw an autobiographical rant at your expense, by a writer who somehow got his hands on enough money to make his own revenge movie. He makes the audience suffer.Perhaps he was writing a great revenge flick for all of those frustrated authors out there, who can't get read due to the overnight success of hacks who don't have one half their talents or insights. This film made my mind wander to other films, other directors and other ideas for movies. That CANNOT be a sign of a good movie. Based on the reviews, I expected something that would at least hold my attention.This movie starts slow, and goes downhill from there. It is a bitter pill. Whatever you are expecting from these positive reviews, I don't see how you could not be disappointed, and annoyed. I hope I just saved you over an hour of your precious time. Go do a random act of kindness with it, and maybe this movie will not have been made in vain.

swiftc I haven't laughed out loud at a movie for a long time. The comedic exaggeration of the characters was delightful and brought back vivid memories of my former southern California writers group – a highly diverse, multi-talented group that, as in this film, included published, unpublished and self-published aspiring writers, all with their own eccentricities and quirky personalities that sometimes clashed and sometimes led to indiscretions.I enjoyed the witty dialogue and the engaging performances from this ensemble cast – especially the talented Dennis Farina. I found the film funny and thought provoking. It stayed with me long after I left the theater. Sometimes caricature is the best way to reveal truth.Now I'm going to track down my old writer friends and recommend this movie!