Finding Amanda
Finding Amanda
R | 27 June 2008 (USA)
Finding Amanda Trailers

A television producer with a penchant for drinking and gambling is sent to Las Vegas to convince his troubled niece to enter rehab.

Reviews
Supelice

Dreadfully Boring

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SparkMore

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

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PiraBit

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

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Robert Joyner

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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Roland E. Zwick

Harried sitcom writer Taylor Mendon is a recovering addict and compulsive gambler who heads to Las Vegas to rescue his ditzy twenty-year-old niece from a career in prostitution and to get her to enroll in rehab. The problem is that Amanda (Brittany Snow) is more than happy with the choices she's made and finds it rather hypocritical and presumptuous of her uncle of all people to be on his high horse regarding how she's living her life.Matthew Broderick has always excelled at playing the well-meaning, bumbling nebbish, but here, playing a well-meaning, bumbling nebbish who also happens to have alcohol and drug-dependency problems, he defies credibility. Moreover, writer/director Peter Tolan never quite strikes that proper balance between the lighthearted and the serious that he's so earnestly striving for (and which he often achieves on "Rescue Me").That being said, "Finding Amanda" does have a nice feel for its settings, a partially unexpected resolution, and enough goodwill to almost make it an enjoyable experience.

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bfm_1017

I must be an old fashioned fool. I watched this movie with my wife on DISH Network, and thought it would have a different ending. I thought Amanda and Taylor would walk together into rehab. I also thought Taylor would womp Amanda's idiot and abusive boyfriend with his broken hand. What was I thinking? A real hooker would never be the same, as described in the movie. Anyone who was raped would of course be a troubled person. I kept wondering why Taylor didn't immediately report this crime to the authorities back home. I also wondered how Taylor could take that in stride.So I should have seen the lousy ending coming. My wife did. Very disappointed, I guess, considering the subject matter. Guess I better stick with Turner Classic movies for the happy endings, or Disney. I couldn't wait to delete this movie from my DVR.

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hprouty

It is remarkable to me that anybody could even sit through this film -- I walked out after 45 minutes. The Matthew Broderick character, a TV sitcom writer who I guess we're supposed to feel some empathy for because he's given up drinking and smoking (or so he says) but just CAN'T give up playing the ponies, is basically just a jerk, who lies-lies-lies to his long-suffering wife about his gambling, in ways that are apparently supposed to be seen as clever or amusing but are in fact pathetic and unfunny. (Sample gag: he's calling his wife from the men's room at the track, lying about being at a meeting "at the network"; he's frantically trying to tip/bribe the men's-room attendant to "not sweep" while he's on the phone...and then some other guy FLUSHES a urinal. Wife: "Are you in a bathroom?" MB: "They have bathrooms at the network, you know." Hysterical, eh?) It only gets worse, when he heads off to Vegas ostensibly to "rescue" his niece (the titular Amanda) from a life of prostitution -- and instead heads straight for the casino, after having promised his wife that the trip was "NOT about gambling." He eventually "finds" Amanda (although it hardly seems like he's even interested in looking for her), who turns out to be the most happy-go-lucky 19-year-old hooker of all time. (I don't actually know if she's 19 or not, maybe they didn't even say -- she acts like she's about 13, though.) And get this: despite the fact that he finds her turning tricks by hanging around by the elevators in a third-rate casino (with a couple of other skanky-looking chicks), trying to pick up any guy who walks by, we're meant to believe that she's been such a roaring success as a prostitute that she's been able to buy a nice red sports car AND a house AND support a sleazy boyfriend (who apparently isn't even her pimp). But she's a good person, you see, because the next thing we see her doing is going to a REALLY BAD NEIGHBORHOOD (where she leaves her nice car unattended with the top down, at night) to buy heroin (or something) as a favor to one of her girlfriends -- not that she would ever use such nasty stuff herself, but she buys her friend "a little less each time" because she's helping her quit. Or something like that. By this time I'd had enough, and bolted for the door. Trust me, these comments don't even begin to encompass the lame and obvious jokes, the unbelievable plot situations, the awful performances (Broderick's included), and so on. I've never been compelled to post a comment -- positive or negative -- on IMDb before, but if I can save even one person from wasting their time and money on this piece of junk, it'll have been worth the effort.

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shayup

I enjoyed this movie and think that it should find an audience in theaters. This movie is described as a comedy and while it is funny, it is also kind of sad at times. I don't understand the other review that totally trashes it. It's not the greatest movie but certainly above average in most areas. There are some great comedic moments primarily because of Matthew Broderick's expressions, timing and his overall lovable loser persona. Brittany Snow gives a strong performance as well. The supporting cast also gives very good performances. I found some of the more serious moments very touching. The writing is a bit off beat and at times, misplaced, but the actors do a wonderful job trying to compensate for that. There is also great chemistry between Matthew and Brittany, reminded me a lot of Election with Matthew and Reese Witherspoon. Go see it!!!

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