WiseRatFlames An unexpected masterpiece

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

jeffroutine Until I watched the The Baxter. This is simply the funniest movie i've seen since Punch Drunk Love. A complete comedic masterpiece. This genre defying film abuses abusrdism and misdirection to great comedic lengths and never fails to win you over. Showalter plays a subtle and nuanced Elliot, whose mannerisms crack you up much like Barry Eagan's in PT Anderson's Punch Drunk Love. Most of The State and the returning cast from Wet Hot American Summer are present, and invaluable in their roles. Micheal Ian Black, David Wain, and Paul Rudd provide most of the laugh out loud moments, where as Michelle Williams and Justin Theroux keep a non-stop smirk on your face with their fully developed quirky characters. Showalter works in a similar fashion, and all together this becomes one of the most original and enjoyable films you'll see in a long time. Strongly Recommended for fans of The State, Stella, Wet Hot American Summer, Punch Drunk Love, Rushmore, etc.

working98 Showalter does Stella all over again. If you don't know what Stella is, then you needn't concern yourself with this film. It's wasted on you. If you DO love Stella, then this is EXACTLY what you're hoping it is: awkward, wasp-ish and and well... awkward.If the idea of middle-class losers is inherently funny, then The Baxter will be a laugh extravaganza riot with pyrotechnics and flaming strippers. If you have discerning tastes about storytelling, humor, acting or plot, then this "film" will make you wish you had opted for an evening of anything mediocre on CBS instead.Interestingly Showalter gets Michelle Williams, Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks to completely waste themselves in this drudgery of white-collar ...well... how often can the word awkward be used in a review? But it's the only thing that applies to the entire ouvre of Showalter's career.Awkward and nebbish account manager Showalter woos Banks and for no reason whatsoever wins her heart, though she's obviously wrong for him as HE (get this!) has too much class for her. So he refuses to see the love in front of him that is in fact the (here it comes again) awkward dork played (rather well, thank you, since she's actually a capable actress) by Michelle Williams.One saving grace of the film is a bit of underwear clad Williams. If SKIN is the best this film has to offer, you might think twice, knowhumsayn? So, let's say obvious, strained, predictable and pointless. Thank you Showtime for rerunning this every 48 hours until I finally watched it in the (vain) hope that you'd eventually STOP! And yes. I know. I'm just TOO uncool to grasp the subtle comic genius of Michael Ian Black in a Speedo. Right. Look. He's funny as hell on VH-1. He has no business doing improv, let alone sketch comedy-cum-feature film experiment.If not for the fact that Showalter is a good drinking buddy to ACTUALLY talented people such as Rudd et.al., this film would never have even been picked up on bargain-bin for Showtime. Let's hope Showalter gets a gig writing for Conan O'Brien or someone so that he can be diluted in future by writers of actual vision, capability and perhaps talent.Ugh.

Keith Gardner I will never give a movie a 10 except my favorite movie of all time, and for that one I won't cast my vote until my final year of life (and so I really hope that I don't get hit by a truck or something before I have a chance to do that! I mean, I'm kind of assuming that I'll know when I'm about to meet my demise so that I'll have a chance to enter my comments here on IMDb!). (Well, actually, I'll probably forget this decree way before then and I'll give some movie or other a 10 and it won't be this excellent film and it won't be that one-and-only most favorite movie of my life, and so the occurrence of my 10-posting will diminish my overall credibility; but I enter these comments knowingly.)So, about this movie. What do you look for in a movie? I know people that just look for escape. They want something that's going to take them away from the world. Then there are those that are looking for entertainment. They just want to laugh, and, well, I guess there's a certain escape factor there as well. And then there are those that look for themselves, or look for some kind of explanation of it all in the cinema. Will you find any of those here? YES!!! You'll find all of them here! This is a great movie! I mean, it's a great sort of high B movie, maybe a great B+ movie, or, god, I'm nervous and sweating, maybe, OK, maybe an A- movie. OK, this is really a great, fun, honest, stupid, silly, funny, realistic, embarrassing, revealing showcase of a fine American film. There's nothing that Truffault or Fellini made that's better than this; we all are just so enamoured of black and white that we think those are all better. ***Possible spoiler here*** (but I won't give it all away, I promise!). At the 55 minute mark, pay attention. This is such a great moment, it's sort of the denouement of the film. It's where they're all (and you'll have to actually see the film to understand who is included in this "all") sitting in this bar and a miraculous turn of events takes place. Is it ridiculous and preposterous? Yes! But has it happened in real life! Well, all I can say is: it's happened to me! There they are, I can't even parse the relationships at this point, but one party from each of the quasi-relationships is here, in this bar, and they all meet up in this one illustrious moment, and they wind up sitting together in this bar and getting drunk and playing some sort of drunken charade, and... well, that's all I'll say. It is marvellous. Maybe Woodie Allen- ish, as others have written, but I dunno; I think it's its own thing. You will have to dunk my head in the toilet to get me to say that I'm wrong about this movie, and good luck catching me! It's just a great movie, period. Small, simple, sweet. Please, don't even tell me how jaded you are if you don't like this film.** (I am not a part of or related to or otherwise in any way affiliated with anyone in or involved with this film. My opinions are my own, I do not wish to quibble.)

pagen Is it just me, or was this an homage to The Apartment (Best Picture – 1960)? Baxter, was played by Jack Lemon in the Billy Wilder classic. I got a feel for it here, but it was a tad shy of a full load for my tastes, but the subtly in places and the "everyone is a Baxter" message were warm and sincere. Recently I have been spoiled by faster and smother paced silly, love stories by the likes of the Friends' cast, Sandler, and Stiller. Even the classics from the 50's through the 70's often found a more stable pace to encourage us to follow along. The glacially slow development of the main characters' true desires takes something away from this movie for me. But perhaps that was just the point. Sometimes it takes us to be pushed to the edge to face what we want to do with our love. A little better pacing, a better mixing of the silly and the subtle would have made this an exceptional movie. I will wait hopefully for Michael Showalter's (director/writer ) next effort.