Numerootno
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Seraherrera
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Hattie
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
bug76
I'm from the south and though I'm sure people are like these people in the film, I don't know of any. The reason for the 8/10 was because of Jim Varney's performance. It was refreshing seeing him in a different light even though I grew up on 'Ernest P. Worrell', who is still my favorite. I understood what BBT was going for but I don't think he got there. There was too much bickering between Ruby and Claude, with jealousy as the constant instigator, and too much bad language for my tastes. And this may not be fair, but I took off a star because of the foul words Varney had said. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that he said them. I wanted more scenes with Varney but I'm guessing that because of the cancer and him needing surgery changed all that. BBT did the right thing in adding Varney to the cast. The courtroom scene is one of my favorites in the whole film. I wish Varney was still alive. He had a lot more in him and he was a tremendous talent. "The good ones die first". I can see from the others on IMDb that the reviews are mixed. It wasn't a bad movie but BBT did better as 'Sling Blade'.
Boba_Fett1138
This was a quite annoying and pointless little movie to watch. I liked the cast and director, so I decided to give this movie a shot but it ended up being an huge deception.The movie and its storytelling was totally uninteresting. It's filled with a whole bunch of characters, that just don't amuse. I'm sorry but a couple of moronic characters who just stare and never have a decent conversation with each other is just not my idea of entertainment.It's obvious that the movie has an overall message about family values in it but the way of storytelling, characters and dialog make sure that the message just doesn't come over. The message gets muddled in into the too thick style of film-making. Billy Bob Thornton tries to put a lot into the movie and tells the story subtle, in a Wes Anderson kind of way but none of it really works out. The movie instead is a boring one about nothing. It makes the movie extremely redundant.Somewhere in its mess there still is a story about a family coming together again when the uncle gets accused of attempted murder. However the story gets abandoned often and totally forgotten time after time, until the moment when the movie suddenly gets back on track with its main plot line. It really doesn't make this the best constructed- or flowing movies.The dialogs and sequences seems to be endless, because there isn't really anything happening in it. It gets highly annoying after a while and makes the movie very tiresome to watch.What a waste of a fine cast. Billy Bob Thornton plays a typical Southern Billy Bob Thornton kind of character. Laura is pretty annoying as his wife and the rest of the characters are cast because of their looks and not for their acting skills, which I must say works out pretty well for the movie. Although, the characters in the movie are supposed to be family but not no one of them look like each other. It also does make the movie confusing at times. Jim Varney plays his final film-role in this movie. His role is entertaining, though short. Same can be said about Walton Goggins. Ben Affleck and Jamie Lee Curtis as two married lawyers are also pretty entertaining.A boring and sometimes even annoying awkward little gem. I regret I've ever watched this movie.4/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
mounttam-pious
I bought a copy of this movie, as I have with every B.B.T. movie I could find. I love it. I wasn't even aware of all the big name talents who were a part of this picture, but was very happily surprised to see the character "Alvin," who I kept thinking, "Wow, that looks like John Prine, he even sounds like John Prine." Then to find out it was him, that was a thrill. I have watched this film several times and it seems like each time I do, I catch a line that I didn't manage to hear on the first viewing. There's a lot of that going on here. My favourite scene has to be the liquor store trip, done in slo-mo to the tune of "Ghost Riders In The Sky." Brilliantly funny. I laughed my face off throughout this movie. One of my favourites. I don't know why it didn't fare better. Probably because of the dumbing down of America (and Canada as well.) The humour would go right over a lot of heads.
mjparker-2
...if only for the clip of Walton Goggins riffing his way through a confession to John Prine, who does a commendable job of not falling apart. The whole thing is not a bad paean to the reality of Southern dysfunction, a la Faulkner and Welty. If you don't believe it exists, or if you prefer your dysfunction Yankee-style, stick with the fiction of Singer and the films of Allen. I can't explain the appearances of Ben Affleck and Jamie Lee Curtis, but the rest of the cast works pretty well. Blethen provides as much outside commentary as this little gem needs. Details such as the cymbal-playing monkey, are, I regret to report, spot-on.
