TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Amy Adler Richard (David Tennant) is a Scottish undertaker who dreams of being a screenwriter. To his amazement, the woman of his casting dreams, aspiring actress Barbara (Vinessa Shaw) meets him unexpectedly as a tourist in his native land. She is flattered by Richard's immediate attentions and the two spark up a friendship until its time for Barbara to go home. End of story? Not quite. Richard decides to take an extended vacation and travel to Los Angeles in search of his true love. After all, maybe his yearning to make it as a screenwriter will be better realized in Hollywood, too. His initial landing in the city is humorous as he goes to the bad part of town and is the target of scorn by the tough guys. Yet, a man rescues him, takes him to a vacant apartment and gets him a job as a pool boy. Now, Rich must make an entrance at the fancy restaurant where Barb works and see if she missed him. It's a surprise and surreal reunion. There are also complications as Barbara has a boyfriend with many connections in the movie business. How can she dump her current beau for Richard, when she is just about to "make it" in Tinseltown? Can she get good advice from Julie (Julie Delpy) , a zany co-worker at the eatery? This sweet film is definitely enhanced by Tennant's winning ways and handsome face. He is a charmer and quite funny. Shaw is beautiful indeed but somewhat of a cold fish. Delpy has her moments while, most importantly, Johnny Depp makes a cameo that is side-splitting. The scenery, costumes, script and direction are all above average. For romcom fans, like me, there is always an endless pursuit to find hidden gems like this movie of 25 years ago.

mushroom_pants Very poorly written & directed, I laughed a few times, fast forwarded it a few times and mainly kept watching it because Vincent Gallo kept popping up. There's more chemistry between him and David Tennant than there is between Tennant and Ms. Shaw. It would have been more interesting as a buddy movie with Tennant and Gallo getting into mischief than a poorly played out romantic comedy. Julie Delpy has the worst fake American accent I've heard in a long time. Tennant in his boxers isn't too bad.For fans wanting to check out Tennant in something other than Doctor Who, I'd recommend Blackpool or Learners. Einstein and Eddington was pretty good, but Tennant was sort of... cardboard in it & Casanova was extremely silly. For people wanting to check out a movie like this, but done much better I'd recommend True Romance (1993- Christian Slater & Patricia Arquette) or the cult classic Valley Girl (1983- Nicolas Cage in his first lead role and Deborah Foreman).

brownrainjacket Although the box may have JOHNNY DEPP & VINCENT GALLO in big letters, both actors play minor parts. Some very magical Depp cameo moments. Gallo is amazing and funny as hell the whole time he's on film. Any fan of his will definately want to see this. There's also a main love story that tries desperately to be charming but just ends up boring and lame. (I already know L.A. is fake--I just wanna hear more philosophy from Vincent Gallo.) This movie is supposedly hard to find. Maybe you can get a pirated copy.

AeonFlux-4 LA without a map was for me, the high point of this year's Singapore Film Festival (99). This modern day fairy-tale may come across as 'clich-ed' to some - especially the last bit - but it made a nice and interestingly pure change to the 'my ship is bigger than yours' crazy budget films out there right now. It's a raw and engaging film that puts a certain warmth in your heart when you leave the cinema. It's about love, dreams, loss, the fragility of life (and love) and it can be damn funny when it wants to be... the acting ain't bad either. :) Vinessa Shaw looks set to be the next big thing.