Waste of time

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Excellent but underrated film

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.

Some people don't get "quirky" movies. My movie friends and I loved this movie. My other friends would definitely not get it. Remember to take people's reviews with a grain of salt. After all, someone who loved Die-hard would hate this movie.Also note that most American's (and yes I am American) only like straight forward blockbuster movies. I say use you brains for once and stop making Americans the laughing stock of other countries!!This movie has a great cast. Milano and Dempsey were unknowns at that time. We watched this movie several times to catch all the things we missed the first (and second) time around.So if you're into mainstream movies this is not for you. But if you like "quirky" characters and having to think, definitely get it. (I never saw it for rent around here....)

This film, concerned with the strange and unusual characters a young woman named Hugo (Alyssa Milano) meets due to her pool cleaning service actually has its moments. Malcolm McDowell, as her drug-addict recovering father and Sean Penn, as a wandering hitch-hiker he befriends frequently steal the movie with their conversations and basic musings on the real human condition. That this film actually has characters stopping,taking the time to experience the realities of life on occasion, to smell the roses so to speak, gives this an undeniably unique quality. Still many may be turned off by the artiness presented here..fans of Alyssa Milano should check this out and this is certainly above-average work from her.

This is a little babe of a movie, the kind that comes on at 1 am and you can't turn it off. Very inventive casting. McDowell and Penn are delightful as are Moriority and Milano. Then, you also have Downey, Jr, Dempsey, and Lewis (AND Chuck Barris). A zany cast of "characters"! I was impressed with how handily Milano carried herself and led this cast.

So it may not be a blockbuster. But quirky does describe it well. Sean Penn and Roddy McDowall have an interesting relationship in this movie, but it's a good thing that Downey Jr. is related to the writer, as his portrayal of Franz is way over the top. But the surprise is that Danilo Perez provided the soundtrack, and while the original music may not live up to the content of his jazz albums, the inclusion of the Thelonious Monk tunes in the soundtrack is an incredible treat!