Sorry, this movie sucks

Best movie of this year hands down!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

"Ass Backwards" takes its title quite literally from the very beginning, matter-of-factly offering us the image of two women from behind, squatting side by side as they relieve themselves in broad daylight, their urine trickling in parallel streams down the sidewalk. Thankfully, the comedy goes uphill from there—somewhat. Co-stars, co-writers and longtime collaborators June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson have chemistry and energy to spare as a pair of bubble-headed best friends stumbling from one scenario to the next. The Upright Citizens Brigade alumnae and college best friends don't have to work to hard to convince us of their connection. It's infectious, and the daffy, breezy way they play off each other makes "Ass Backwards" way more enjoyable than it ought to be. Their delightful zaniness remains a constant even when the predicaments their characters find themselves in can be rather hit and miss and often strain for laughs in director Chris Nelson's feature debut. Raphael and Wilson star respectively as Kate and Chloe, aimless but unflappably upbeat women sharing an apartment in New York City. Pushing 30, they still have no real goals, although they've fashioned pseudo careers for themselves. Kate is an "entrepreneur" (she sells her eggs on Craigslist to couples trying to conceive) while Chloe is an "entertainer" (she's a listless go-go dancer in a box at a nightclub). They live on maxed-out credit to create the illusion of luxury, hoping to convince both the outside world and themselves that they've really made it. But when Kate and Chloe receive an invitation to return to their hometown to compete in an anniversary edition of the beauty pageant they both lost as young girls—the crucial moment in their childhood that bound and defined them—they can only pretend to be cool about it. The prospect of redeeming themselves is too tantalizing, especially in front of their longtime nemesis, a pageant goddess turned best-selling author (a smarmily condescending Alicia Silverstone). And the timing is perfect—sort of—because they've just been evicted from their apartment, forcing them to go somewhere. Now. So they load up a rickety van with totally impractical belongings, program the wrong directions into the GPS and hit the road. Their scattered adventures along the way feature a highly symbolic bunny rabbit, a strip contest (where Raphael's real-life husband, Paul Scheer, plays the club manager), a down-and-dirty interlude with a drug-addicted reality TV star (Brian Geraghty) and an overnight visit to a women's commune which (sort of) alters their notions of femininity. As with any kind of episodic or sketch comedy, some gags land more effectively than others, although you'll likely find a line or a beat or an image that makes you laugh from start to finish. Through it all, the actresses seem game for anything, staying completely committed to the delusional characters they've created and reveling not only in their flamboyance but also in their vulnerability. They allow us to genuinely enjoy these women (although spending 85 minutes with them is plenty) while also recognizing their flaws. Raphael and Wilson (and Kate and Chloe) owe a great debt to "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion," the still-hilarious 1997 comedy that was both silly and sweet and allowed clueless female characters to be ditzy and shallow while remaining true to each other. Despite Raphael and Wilson's fondness for pushing the humor into brash, crass directions (as evidenced by that opening shot), their characters clearly have an innate decency and a loyalty to each other that's heartening. At the same time, "Ass Backwards" is a welcome departure from the script they co-wrote for 2009's "Bride Wars," an ugly example of longtime female friends tearing each other apart for the sake of broad laughs. Even when the cracks in Kate and Chloe's cheery, colorful exterior begin to show, it's clear that they still love each other, and they'll live to shop together another day. Raphael and Wilson's friendship—and their collaborative efforts—are just as promising.

One of the few times I bothered to read reviews on a movie (loose term in this case) before I watched it, and how I regret it. As funny as having a tooth pulled, but I would like to say hello to the cast or crew members who came on here to write glowing reviews.Sadly anyone who was not involved would disagree, while not as bad as Birdemic (One or Two) it's still bland, banal and unfunny, sadly I can't get the hour and twenty I wasted wondering if it actually gets better.May I respectfully suggest, with the nice scenery, equipment, cast and crew available for this, next time put a little more effort into picking a good script.

I won't attempt to explain the plot or purpose of this "wannabe imitation" of a film but I'll share a few thoughts on what stood out to me.A brief shot "from behind" of 2 women squatting over a public sidewalk revealing unnecessary ass shots from a distance; releasing a flood of urine. Is that funny? What if it was 2 men in that same position, not erect & urinating? Would that be funny instead? We live in a society ruled by You-Tubers and all their childish antics for easy/forced laughs from viewers willing to laugh at anything.Which means, most of the dumb gimmicks and/or jokes are recycled. Usually very dry self-serving humor or over the top silly behavior; that always seems to be inside jokes between the writers of this type of film (similar to the skits on Saturday Night Live).What I never understand is why the so called funniest characters are always written to be clueless idiots throughout, then they have brief moments of clarity as if the writers forgot how stupid the characters were written a moment before writing a new scene.As I write this "review", I notice the two main characters urinating in public. This 3rd & final time while in a cemetery, they squat directly over the camera and before we can see their privates parts in an extreme close-up; the film CUT TO the end credits. I'm an ass lover myself but it's clear the writers and/or film directors has a fetish/thing for women squatting to pee "always watching" from behind. I just realized that my little "review" might have you believe this film is something that it is not because of a few scenes that I've described. It's not entertaining and it's not kinky. It's that usual nonsense that's suppose to be funny these days.

I'm so excited that "Ass Backwards" is finally out on VOD! I've been telling my "pageant obsessed" roommate about it for the past few weeks so I can't wait to finally get to watch it with her. The movie shows the struggles two best friends face trying to get to compete in a beauty pageant. Being a person knowing nothing about pageants, I found the movie absolutely hilarious, so I'm sure anyone with a background in pageants will find it equally, if not more hilarious. Though the two best friends are not the greatest pageant girls, I found their determination to compete and win, as well as support each other (even though they competed against each other) very admirable.