The Worst Film Ever

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Erin's boyfriend (Sean) has dumped her. I see why immediately. Why she would ever do anything with Sean is not so easy to see.The film is irritating and all too self-aware; incidental music is all too often wretched.Halloween at the hospital; nursing staff scares the hell out of the toddlers.Erin's mother Piper places a personal ad for Erin in the local newspaper without advising Erin.Sub-plot: the aquarium where Alan is working is planning an addition. Not everyone likes this, and the aquarium grounds are vandalized. Arty Lesser and his construction company want to build a prison there.At an aquarium party, Frank asks Alan to kill one of the aquarium attractions and Alan's money loan from Frank will have the interest removed.The ad does it's work; Erin gets 60 messages on the first time she checks. Yikes, so many people, so many losers, at least in their telephone presentations of themselves. She skips most of these, and the skips most of those that she meets. The men she meets are unacceptable for one reason or another. The Emerson quote (a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds) was a deal-breaker for three of the possibles, one of which was Alan's brother. She notices that two men watching her with a third were men she had met before.'The only person who can help you is yourself.' Right. Women do not need men. Point asserted again and again and again.Seventy-eight minutes into the film, she still has not met Alan, but a Brazilian man (Andre) is very interested in her. Erin likes Brazil and Brazilian music, so that goes smoothly for a time. Alan is with Julie; this is doomed from the start. Alan with Julie heats up for a moment; so does Erin with Andre.Sean comes back and wants to re-unite with Erin. No such luck.Andre is about to go back to Brazil, and wants Erin to come with. She gears up to do this.Alan gets to meet Arty Lesser, who tells Alan that he is at a turning point in his life.Erin gets held up in traffic. She tries to make it using a train. More rotten camera work.Missed connections. Erin does not go to Brazil. Alan does not solidify his position with the big-time gangster Lesser.During the last two minutes, Erin and Alan connect on the Emerson quote, and go for a walk on the beach.----Scores----Cinematography: 4/10 Never in focus. The poor framing and wobbly camera movement is distracting and counterproductive as well as amateurish.Sound: 7/10 Some of the jazz by named artists is rather good, but does not really add much.Acting: 4/10 Hope Davis is uniformly bad; the extra layer of chain smoking was a layer I could have done without. Holland Taylor was fine, Alan Gelfant was OK. Hoffman was as irritating as usual. Just about nothing seems to have enough buoyancy to counterbalance the dead weight of Hope Davis.Screenplay: 6/10 Slow developing. Is the payoff worth the long wait? No. So many sub-plots were left unresolved. The Brazilian trip goes down the tubes. Too many characters, too many dangling ends.

NEXT STOP WONDERLAND (1998): My first viewing of Next Stop Wonderland occurred about three years ago, when I was pretty green on the subject of film. My first viewing led me to call it my favorite romantic comedy, for it was something different than I was used to seeing. It sparked an interest in Hope Davis, who has since become one of my favorite actresses (If you don't know her work, seriously check her out, she's great). So I bought the film about a year ago and haven't watched it since. Until this week, that is. And so comes my reevaluation..THE GOOD: The thing I love most about Next Stop Wonderland is the fact that it's a romantic comedy that avoids most of the clichés the genre has been burdened with. The two main characters are far from unattractive, but it's no Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaughey duo. The film doesn't capitalize on anything shiny or cheesy. These are real people in real situations. The two main characters are people stuck in ruts, waiting on their lives to change. And it's very true to life. Here we have a nurse whose boyfriend has just left her. Her mother tries to interfere in her life and get her "back out there" as far as dating. She doesn't want to and is pretty dismal throughout the majority of the film. Meanwhile, we have a serious man who volunteers at an aquarium while trying to afford schooling to become a marine biologist.Hope Davis absolutely shines in her role as Erin, the single woman who is too proud to admit that she's lonely. Another standout is Phillip Seymour-Hoffman, pre-Capote, in a small role as Erin's politically aware ex-boyfriend.THE BAD: I try not to judge a film on it's predictability, but it's hard not to do so. As far as this is concerned, it's obvious what's going to happen from the third scene. Obviously the lonely woman and the hard working single guy are going to find each other and fall in love. I guess one could say that it's "watching them get there" that is important, which I kind of agree with, but it makes you really want to tune out and fast forward through all the meaninglessness and skip to the end.The ending is kind of a let down. Like I said, it's impossible to not see the outcome from the beginning, but the actual climax is pretty disappointing. You expect to see some kind of interaction and connection between the two future lovers, but there is none of that. There's one final scene with them together and it's truly not worth what they endured to get there.THE RESULT: I guess the good outweighs the bad here. It's a simple concept and it mostly succeeds with what it's trying to do. Far from groundbreaking, but it is delightful entertainment and a suitable alternative to typical romantic comedies. There are some truly amusing moments here, but nothing really laugh out loud. Worth seeing for some good performances, some originality.7/10, down from 8/10.

I absolutely love this movie! Hope Davis is amazing, she always gives great performances in all the films that she is in and this is just another one of this performances. The lead male is this film is also very good, and come to think of it the whole cast is really excellent. this is film is about a lonely woman (davis) and the main guy, and them almost meeting each other but never actually doing so. This movie sort of reminded me of the film serendipity, but this is a much better film, with more interesting and much more believable characters. All in all i feel that this is a movie well worth seeing because everyone can relate to the loneliness in the film.

Spiffy little romance/comedy which didn't follow in the footsteps of most in this genre. Perfectly paced with nice doses of nifty dialogue, a plethora of all sorts of characters, and a pair of leading players who came off as real people with the same needs as all of us. The leading lady was torn between her need for a mate and her distaste for all the hubbub that such a search entails. The leading man didn't appear to need a mate as much as he needed to shuck his routine job in favor of the more interesting marine biologist. This, at times, paled in comparison to his money problems and having to deal with a shady character and his muscle bound crony lurking menacingly just behind. Good film, and you'll love that aquarium.