A Brilliant Conflict

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

OK, so it isn't a great movie. Who cares? It has Maria Bello and that's enough for a peek if you have nothing else to do. She plays a con artist who takes advantage of the saying, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." In this case, it's what happens 100 miles from home doesn't matter. Businessmen at a corporate training trip taking advantage and getting caught. The movie spends a lot of time filming the trainer. Time wasted that would have been better spent film Miss Bello. Our loss. Also stars Dawn of the Dead's Jake Weber, and The Ring's David Dorfman as father and son. There are a bunch of others in the movie, but hey, I'm watching because of Maria Bello so i really don't care about them.

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT:Three salesmen take a trip together to attend a seminar. Much chaos and trouble follows. This was a movie that sounded like it had the capacity to be really good AND it had Maria Bello in it, of whom I've been a fan for several years. Unfortunately the movie left a lot to be desired.Maria Bello plays the seductress who blackmails one of the salesmen after he cheats on his wife with her. And Bello's actually not bad in the role. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot she can do with the part. One of the main problems of this movie are the characters portrayed. Most of them are so totally obnoxious that it's almost impossible to have any enjoyment in the movie. The plot is overshadowed by the unlikeable element of almost everyone and sometimes they seem like caricatures rather then characters.The movie has many plot twists, some of them even are rather unpredictable but none of them are very interesting, in fact much of the movie doesn't make any sense. There's a lot of arguing amongst the three salesmen which becomes unenjoyable, overplayed, and tedious. Bello's character lacks any complexity whatsoever and the movie becomes to dark and a mishmash of arguments, and plot contrivances. Any interest in the movie at the beginning slowly dissipates due to the slow pace and above mentioned goings on.Although this isn't a movie I thought was terribly good, it may appeal to people who are major fans of black comedies (a genre that is not among my favorites though I have seen some movies of this genre that are absolutely outstanding.) But even the black comedy purist may have problems with this as it just isn't one of the best of the genre.I did appreciate the reference to the movie "Very Bad Things" (a Movie that for some unfathomable reason I did enjoy a bit more then this one.) And I liked the casting of Bello. But the movie itself just didn't strike me as being put together all that great and was disappointing. My vote's 4 of 10.

"One Hundred Mile Rule" turned out to be better than I expected from the very brief and bland synopsis provided. As a Jake Weber fan, I decided to go ahead and watch it, anyway. The three primary men in this movie get embroiled in a mess and don't quite know how to clean it up. If you read the synopsis, you get the general idea, but this movie only really comes together and gets interesting when the guys try to take matters into their own hands, as you may imagine. Maria Bello is seen in an interesting light, much different from her character on ER. It's not a five-star movie, but it's worth checking out for a good laugh, especially for Jake Weber fans.

I saw this movie at a film festival (Fort Lauderdale) and what a waste of time and money. The only thing going for it is the presence of the beautiful and talented Maria Bello; however, the viewer wonders how someone of her talent got mixed up in a below-average effort like this one. The major problems are a deficient script that couldn't get a passing grade in Screenwriting 101 and what can only be described as amateurish directing.