Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

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

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Before Jon Favreau became a big time Hollywood director (Zathura, Iron Man 1&2) he acted in small movies with names that hint at what the movie is about like this one. Favreau plays this wannabe actor who can't get work and gets a sidejob to bring a blue suitcase to cowboy Bob in the desert. There are some quirky characters he meets along the way, some vague suggestions of UFO and alien abductions and whatnot and plenty of nothing happening. Apparently big name actors were jumping up and down to get their faces in the picture coz Daryl Hannah, Rachael Leigh Cook, Kelsey Grammar and Sean Bean have small cameo-like roles. It's not all bad per se but there are a million movies like this out there: low budget empty pretentious nonsense. See it if you still want to. But surely you have better thing to do.

If you're into the typically self-indulgent (and often too self-conscious) Australian movies, then you might like this -- especially so if you're an Australian, as they do so crowd around their own.Once you get beyond that, you get that 'let's show 'em what we're about mate' production -- sometimes this can be a good thing, but often it seems it's a peculiar side effect of a film produced downunder.There have been lots of great low-budget Australian films, but this one seems to carry on that nuevo mañana película tradición: 'We're from another BETTER planet because Baz Luhrmann says so...' -- even though Luhrmann has been the only Australian to have ever pulled that off.Summed up -- over-the-top weirdness when it could have been better if it had been just plain weird. Acting is entertaining in some spots but the actors seem bemused, uninspired and inattentive (perhaps they didn't know what they were supposed to pay attention to?).Tedious and in spots, predictably unpredictable (if you can grok that). I'd have enjoyed the evening more if I'd have chosen to see a repeat of "Strictly Ballroom" or maybe even "Kangaroo Jack".Cheers

Stuck in a mediocre life, John Person persist with his dream of acting. Hanging on the hope of a call back from an audition, John is suddenly interrupted by his neighbour Neely. Neely asks for John's help in delivering a blue suitcase to a man called the Cowboy. The delivery point is the small desert town of Baker. Once there, John meets the strange locals; hotel manager Elron, bar maid Stella, the mysterious Ruthie. Complications arise when FBI agent Banks starts investigating John and his matters in Baker.The Big Empty is a quirky debut for director/writer Steve Anderson. The Big Empty is a mash up of ideas and concepts; aliens and abductions, bowling, the mystery of the suitcase, meeting new people in the likeliest places, freeing once self from life's pit, a self discovery to your inner life and desires. To Anderson's credit, he stops this mash up from a complete muddle and strings it all together convincingly. Yet he has taken on to much all at once. The esoteric story, the kooky characters of the town are of centered to his canvas. He has so many ideas, but placing so many have hindered the film.A positive and a negative of The Big Empty is its overly ambiguous tone. Questions are thrown at you, hints to their answer are slowly dug up, but so many questions are left unanswered. It's very opened ended, leaving room for much interpretation. Anderson wants you to think and uncover your own answers, which is pleasant to see from a film maker, audiences are too comfortable to have the answers given.Acting all round is solid. Jon Favreau is strong if it not near his best. Daryl Hannah is great is as Stella. Kelsey Grammar occasionally hits over the top as Agent Banks. Rachael Leigh Cook is an absolute stand out as head strong and free spirit Ruthie. Sean Bean is also quite a stand out as the mysterious Cowboy.While The Big Empty may not grasp everyones attention or be a wholly stunning film, it shows much talent in Anderson's skill as a film maker. A very solid debut.

I've just read a slew of reviews of this film. People really hate this movie and to be honest, I don't understand why. In The Big Empty, Jon Favreau plays an out of work actor who is hired/blackmailed by his landlord/neighbor (Bud Cort, aka Harold, of Harold and Maude) to deliver a briefcase to a Cowboy in the wastelands of Central California. He is reluctant, but has nothing better to do. He heads out, leaving Joey Lauren Adams in a neighboring apartment without any shoes. As he wanders through a stark, Bakersfieldian landscape seeking solace, and a violent Englishman in full-agg-hetero cowboy regalia, he is accosted by eldritch horrors, unspeakable fornications, vicious chainsaw wielding savages, and Frasier's Kelsey Grammar. Eventually, the weirdness stacks up until his disturbingly over-sized head is viciously exploded and his torso becomes a giant bowling ball. ...wait, that's not right. It's close though. This movie IS quirky and original. Don't let the naysayers fool you with their saying of nay. In this fine piece of cinema we encounter many elements that we've seen before, but they are cobbled together into a funny and cruel shoeful of surrealist whackiness. I laughed and was temporarily dumbstuck by the shear unpredictability of it all. The cast does a fine job, and should be given waffles and fine international syrups. If you're the type of person who is afraid of movies that you can't figure out in the first five minutes (or at all), go back to the DaVinci Code. You are not ready. --S.Casey Faulkner