Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
jamariana
Every character was so unbelievably irritating. Only Larry David and George Costanza can do Larry David right - otherwise it's just annoying and bizarre. All the yelling, exaggerated mannerisms, and ridiculous dialogue - no one behaves like that in real life! It was just hard to get through.
Steve Pulaski
Sour Grapes has a certain appeal for Larry David fans like myself, but ultimately, it's too long and overdone. This is a perfect example of eclectic humor where for every one person who finds a certain event funny there are ten people who are appalled or left scratching their head.This isn't bad, and it serves as a precursor to writer and director Larry David's new hit show Curb Your Enthusiasm, currently finished with its eight season. The show began in 1999, and Sour Grapes was completed and released in 1998. It bares a striking resemblance in some cases, and the way some scenes end with an awkward conversation or a random event occurring now seem like it was hinting at what Larry David would find success with later in his career. It's an interesting little setup, but not executed well enough.What makes Curb Your Enthusiasm work so well? I think it's the character of Larry and his bizarre situations, the highly relatable quality of him that many people find in themselves, and the fact that the character himself is so open with discussing random, off the wall situations. It's a unique and daring show that should be lucky it clicks so well with audiences. But it's not everyone's humor, and neither is Sour Grapes. Maybe if Larry David waited a little while longer, worked on Curb for a few seasons, and made a made a bigger name for himself this film would've been more understood and a bit more of a success. Sadly, we'll have to give it the time period it was conducted in.The story follows around two cousins named Evan and Ritchie (Weber and Bierko). Both of them and their spouses go to Atlantic City for the weekend. The men decide to play the slots. Ritchie asks to borrow two quarters after Evan told him to be eligible to win the jackpot you must put in at least three quarters. Ritchie does and boom, wins the jackpot of $436,214.50. How did I remember that? Because you'll hear that number more times in this film than any other number regardless of amount or digits in any film probably in your life.Evan believes he is entitled to at least half of Ritchie's earnings, but Ritchie believes he only owes Evan the two quarters and nothing more. As you would imagine, the money comes between the two cousins and they bicker like little kids. I admire the film for at least setting up a plausible quibble that will likely have a typical person siding with one of the main characters. Personally, I'm middle of the road having sympathy with Evan believing he entitled to a small portion of the money since he contributed to the win. No more than maybe a fourth of the money should be given to him, but after all, it truly is the gesture that counts.Trying to settle ends, Evan buys Ritchie a jogging suit for his birthday. Ritchie gives the jogging suit to a bum. Evan sees that the weasel gave the jogging suit away on his ride home. So to get even, when Ritchie goes home after a visit from the doctor, Evan. Evan calls him up and says that he has a rare form of Cancer with only a few months to live. Ritchie, who lives with his mom, worries that his mom won't be able to go on without him and thus sets up a plan for the bum to kill his mother.Alas, his plan backfires, and now his mother is in the hospital and he is informed that the Cancer call was just a joke. Now both of the men are in hot water and we are supposed to laugh at both of their miseries. I took longer to explain the plot than I usually do, since I believe a review should be more about the thoughts of the person writing rather than solely the plot of the story. But when it comes to Larry David, in order to explain the film, you have to explain almost the whole thing while dodging spoilers. If I'm trying to mention a funny part in Curb to someone, I have to literally tell them the whole episode's synopsis in order for them to effectively get the joke. It's because much of the humor happens because it was the result of a trigger effect caused by the characters. It's a fun and unique way of humor.This all feels like a dull pilot for a sitcom destined to have half a first season, and since David was also working with Jerry Seinfeld on Seinfeld at the time of this, this could've been a rejected episode idea David wanted to pursue. However, the conflict could've been resulted if the characters had an honest talk with one another instead of acting merely on impulse and present emotions.The funniest scenes exist not with Weber and Bierko, but with the group of bums who have numerous and far too quick lines of dialog. Some of the funniest characters are severely underwritten in a Larry David picture? No way.Sour Grapes is cute, but not very well done. It occupies way too much time and leaves way too little accomplished. It becomes not a comedy, but a very long setup that grows weary when blown out of proportion. The two leads are cute, but not memorable. The script isn't sour, but far from sweet. And the directing is of second rate quality. Larry David is a writing wizard, and it is shown here. But he works better when he has a strict time limit, like with his two successful sitcoms, rather than a free range film that isn't time sensitive. It's a curious piece of history for a man so colorful, but brings little to light other than David's writing abilities and his surefire way to create a successful trigger effect in his stories.
imilic-1
I'm a Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fan. What I liked in this movie was its unique story and how things get going. Things get complicated like in Seinfeld and CYE, but that could have been done better. It's not so funny like in Larry David's sitcoms. Larry should have added more humor and talk-jokes in the movie script. It's like I'm watching a Seinfeld episode written by an amateur stand-up comedian. Larry, it was because of the money, wasn't'it? Both characters are very much like Larry David. They talk and make gestures in the same way Larry does in Curb Your Enthusiasm; this can be very annoying and boring (like "Pretty, pretty, pretty good..."). And the guy who won at the casino is not such a good actor. He reminds me of Stephen Snedden from spin off series The Lone Gunmen - he is really that bad. And his wife resembles Susie from Curb Your Enthusiasm. And that horrible soundtrack! It's always the same song over and over again. And I used to like classic music...
bmanacles
Frankly, I find this movie difficult to watch every time. So many things occur that just seem to spiral down into chaos causing chaos causing chaos. The main characters, at first...you take a side...then eventually you'll realize that neither are in the right. But one does something to the other, which is unspeakably terrible...and receives the same in turn. Eventually when it's all over, something ultimately terrible happens. Suspense is not only something that relates to a horror film, in my opinion...upon seeing this film. The director perfected it to an almost migraine inducing level. If you are patient, this movie is fantastic. If you're not, and you simply can't stand it...well perhaps this isn't for you.
