Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Given how well this is put together (not to mention Amber Heard, who completely nails her character perfectly, and then some), it's a bit surprising this was not the big commercial success it could have been.At the very least, it certainly did not deserve the rotten tomatoes rating, and other critical reviews it received.But maybe, just maybe . . . that's the key to understanding this film, in that perhaps it strikes just a bit too close to home for many to actually feel comfortable with.For those obsessed with Utopian fantasy and political correctness, advanced warning: this is not for you.As so many of the other reviewers here have cited, this is a spectacular (if not more than a bit darkish) probe into the predatory, media frenzy driven universe of targeted demographic branding, and the uber self absorbed, shallow and soulless practitioners of this enterprise in its most extreme forms.Yes, this film is described as a "romcom", but actually, this is somewhat in its own category, not neatly crammed into thematic descriptive box, which may have also partially contributed to its unfortunate commercial demise.No, this is not a "feel good" fluffy film about girl meets boy in the corporate world and the adventures thereof. Far from it. But from an entirely different perspective, as a near perfect examination character study of the sorts of bizarre people and their personal demons one can encounter in this environment, Syrup delivers.As one who has actually spent a bit of time lurking about in the aforementioned environment, with said humanoids, with their personal demons ad nauseum and beyond, the stereotypes depicted here are all too real, and their existence as portrayed is, as previously suggested, perhaps much too close to home for some.As for the actual romance part of the story, yes, it is interesting in its own right, although the ending could have perhaps been a bit different (no spoilers here).But in the larger picture, as it were, the story (actually, there are several story threads woven together throughout) structure is more of a scaffold into which the various character studies are inserted, and a mosaic is constructed from which to get a glimpse into the dark intrigues of branding, targeted marketing, predatory media manipulation and beyond which has become the new norm of the millennial era.OK, that probably wasn't the most politically correct last bit of commentary, but perhaps a dose of reality might be an appropriate reference to work with here, as is the message of the film.Maybe not all will agree, but for my vote, a very solid 8.

compelling, clever, can't take your eyes off.doesn't go in the typical romcom direction everyone with a brain hates. people won't like this film because they won't get it. if you get it, you will love it.cleverer than limitless (the two are similar in the way your brain engages) in so many ways, and a much better script. just genuinely thought i was going to watch something which will send me to sleep it's just like every other film.no, engages you from the get-go, always keeping some mystery and spontaneity for the next twist, which you will not predict. now i am going to be up all night pondering!fantastic ending, fantastic film.

This film seems like the low budget version of Branded. It also features a pair of people working the marketing system, a soulless thing designed to make us like what we don't need and suffer for not having it. Unlike Branded, though, Syrup does not try to make it all surreal, quite the contrary: it shows in select moments of the film the inner workings of advertising, both from a personal standpoint and from a theoretical one. Unfortunately it does feel so, surreal I mean, when the lead actors, lacking any visible or believable chemistry, start spouting wooden and pompous lines that make little sense.If someone would seriously make a full feature film from the trailer of Syrup, it would be great. To be fair, Amber Heard did a great role, given what she had (and I don't just mean a smashing wardrobe and a beauty to match, I mean the script). Her counterpart also tried his best, although that clearly wasn't enough. No, the problem were not the actors, not even the story, but the script. One would be hard pressed to even consider that it is based on a book, but it is! I haven't read the book, but from reviews I've read it's gotta be a lot better than what the writers did with this film.Bottom line: the very definition of pomp is that it tries too hard to show something off and it fails exactly in that respect. In the case of Syrup, it tried to seem smart and it came out as really dumb. Some bits, mostly the ones you see in the trailer, were remarkably good, but the stuff in between was excremental. Given that this is inspired by a book, I have to consider it a failure.

I watched this for one reason and I am perhaps ashamed to say it but it was because I think Amber Heard is gorgeous. She isn't always the best actress (though I think she isn't bad) but I just have a huge thing for her. What surprised me was that this little indie romance/dark comedy was actually okay. It was far from amazing and didn't blow me away but honestly I watch so many truly awful indie flicks that I don't make it half way through and this wasn't awful. In fact, it was a unique and well developed concept with some very dark humour and the spin on it using marketing as a driving force and lesson in morality was really well done. The pacing of the film isn't great and often drags just a little bit. The chemistry between our lead stars isn't perfect, it isn't bad but there is some spark missing. I also am not sure they knew what direction or genre they wanted to take this film in and it feels a little jumbled at times. I think with a better director and perhaps screenwriter they could have honed the picture just a little better and made it more impressive. However, for what it is it was fun and worth watching if not mostly forgettable.The aforementioned Amber Heard is the cutthroat Six. She has spent years creating her image and is a power hungry and emotionally void marketing manager. Heard is decent in the role. It isn't her best performance but she does it well. Shiloh Fernandez is okay in his role as Scat. He is supposed to be a brilliant marketing genius who is scatter brained and disillusioned with the advertising world. The problem is that he looks too young and isn't quiet believable in his role. He comes across as someone who just lucked out on a good idea. The chemistry with Heard is again, okay, but could have been much better. The supporting cast includes Kellan Lutz in a darkly comic role as Sneaky Pete. It isn't exactly a tough role but he does it decently. Brittany Snow shows up in a role so small if you sneeze you'll miss it so there isn't any point in even mentioning her. Everyone else plays their role decently but no one really stands out as worth mentioning.Syrup is a satire and there is very few films that do satire well. This does is well. The problem is the potential is really great and it drops the ball frequently. Aram Rappaport is very inexperienced and this film needs a director with more style and vision. I was surprised to see that author Max Barry who wrote the novel the film is based on also co-wrote the screenplay with Rappaport. The entire movie just needed more experience. Now pleasure understand I enjoyed watching it, it just felt unfortunately forgettable. Still it was unique and a good story and the voice over narration scenes breaking the fourth wall worked very well. It was an average flick that showed a ton of potential. I have no doubt the book was exponentially better. 6/10