As Good As It Gets

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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

I thought with main stream stars like John Laroquette, Julie Benz and Lolita Davidovich in Kill Your Darlings I might be in store for a decent comedy drama. Nothing was further from the truth. The swede Bjorne Lawson both wrote and directed this downer of a movie. The story is about a few people who are under Dr. Bangley's (played by John Laroquette) psychiatric care. Heck, even Dr. Bangley's own 14 year year old daughter (played by Skye McCole Bartusiak) is in need of some serious therapy but Dr. Bangley just doesn't have any time to spare her while he is peddling his newly released book. Actor Fares Fares (yes that is his real name) plays a doting absentee father who gets hired as a gun toting hoodlum assigned to take a troubled six foot transvestite and a bored suicidal housewife through the desert on a road trip to eventually meet up with their psychiatrist Dr. Bangley in Las Vegas for his book signing. On a separate journey through the desert we also have Lolita Davidovich who is introduced to us only by the name Lola. Lola hooks up with a depressed and suicidal hamburger photographer (that is his specialty, photographing hamburgers for ad campaigns) named Erik (played by Andreas Wilson) whose real aspiration is to become a serious writer and author. Both Lola and Erik have a few hangups of their own and as they agree to go on a road trip together they commencing sharing their inner feelings and demons while the story becomes more and more surreal and ludicrous.The road trip of these several characters through the desert is nothing short of boredom. I would have thought troubled people who need the assistance of a psychiatrist would be under medication but all we see and hear is nothing but blather and a very boring story line. If I was forced to watch any more of this film I may have become suicidal myself.Save your money and your time. This one is not worth watching at all.

maby it could have been better if the Swedish cast had been limited to one character only - the Swedish wannabee writer. then there would have been no pretend-to-be-from-America-when-I'm-not necessary. then perhaps the cultural collision would have added flavor of refinement - instead of making the whole thing into a sleazy staged-to-look-good burger with lots of color - but no taste at all.Don't they realize that the clear Swedish tone in the American characters played by swedes gets in a bad light of contrast when directly compared to the original in form of famous American actors playing in the same movie??? Or is this some kind of Nordic belief of being "better then the original" that is showing up in overtones?the script is OK as such - i have seen great actors play in movies based on scripts much worse written.Alexander Skarsgård, who plays the transsexual homicidal patient, seems actually think that makeup and some wig by itself is going to do the job of turning him into a intriguing transsexual character. but off course - hes name must have made some money for the producers - usually I'm sure its not worthy to base your thoughts on that its because hes the son of Hollywood actor Stellan Skaarsgard, but in this case - bearing in mind the just OK script and the bad acting performance that is offered by the Swedish part of the cast in general - its hard not to think that the skarsgård name might have been an important factor in the recruitment of the more famous parts of the American cast.

I had the chance to see Kill Your Darlings at the Tribeca Film Festival today and hear its director talk about the film. As soon as I read the description I wanted to see this - I'm moving to Las Vegas very soon and I love road trips! Possible spoiler: I was impressed with its hilarious take on our pseudo-celebrity-self-help b.s. phenomenon, and the addiction our culture has on reality TV. The way this thread played out would have been sad if it weren't so funny, yet it never seemed preachy about it. It's hard to even begin talking about suicide and not worry about how everyone will react to it, but I really enjoyed how this film showed how we can find ourselves at an end of a rope and manage to pull ourselves back up rather than hang ourselves with it. Its depiction of a road trip felt dead-on, The characters were well drawn out and delightful to watch, the scenery was breathtaking, the music was an enhancement, and the story was moving. I loved this film!

I just saw this film at Tribeca--Bjorne and most of the cast were there. He is charming and totally gorgeous, but even so, I went into this thinking it was likely to be either silly or pretentious. Oh, it is neither! The production values are tremendous, especially considering how low the budget was for this film, and the acting is uniformly superb. But fundamentally, it is a tremendously cool FILM--not a story that could translate well to the page or the stage, since visuals, dialogue and nuance are so essential. It's entertaining just as a road movie with a lot of quirky, lovable characters, but it works on many levels as allegory/metaphor, as semi-autobiography, or as fantasy. He's woven the typically American movie characteristics of lots of action and a big canvas with the Swedish sense of reserve and surrealism. Go see this whenever or wherever you can--you'll leave the theater with a smile on your face, and images and ideas that will stay with you!