Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-17 22:52:11

Only Sporadically Engaging

This review is from: Barry Munday [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Given the project's prosaic (and that's being generous) script, I cannot imagine how such a talented cast was assembled. "Barry Munday" is a sadly lifeless affair; and that is a shame.

2013-05-17 11:00:46

Tears of Joy

My movie rental is long so I don't know or remember why I choose this movie for my list. It has a rather boring promo. I fell in love with it about 10 minutes in. It is a wonderful surprise, I loved it. Everything in it is there for a reason, loving mother, bad ass family turns into a family bond. I don't know how a writer comes up with all these "just right" emotions. I haven't teared up this much during a movie since "Saving Private Ryan", but for very different reasons. If you want to feel good after 1.5 hours of viewing, let me give you my highest recommendation right here. It is emotionally deep if you know where to look.

Christopher Roussell 2013-05-13 15:53:56

good

it was good,a lot of funny parts no it was really funny like hell and good like hell i hope youlike my reveiw and i hope you see the movie

tieman64 2013-05-12 21:22:20

Family Jewels

Patrick Wilson, who has made a name for himself starring in films inwhich he is literally or symbolically castrated and/or left impotent("Hard Candy", "Little Children", "Lakeview Terrace", "Watchmen"),stars in "Barry Munday", a film in which he finally fully loses hisgonads.Wilson plays Barry Munday, a serial womaniser who unfortunately suffersa vicious attack in which his manhood is mauled. The rest of the filmfinds him struggling to woo a dorky woman whom he impregnated beforehis crotch luggage went AWOL. She hates him because she rightfullyviews Barry as a lazy, filthy oaf. He loves her because, nowemasculated, she's the only woman who can bear him a child. It's a goodidea for a comedy, but director Chris D'Arienzo struggles with hisjokes, and the film's quirkiness is strained, forced and second-hand.Interestingly, the film suggests that the only thing keeping men fromdomestication (and monogamy) is the phallus. Remove the penis and thephilanderer dies, shifting from a conqueror to a feminized maledesperate for any woman he can get. In the western world, men arethemselves slowly becoming "feminized". Some gender theorists deem thisas being beneficial, as it prevents the resuscitation of stable genderorders (gender is a social construct). Others insist that "masculinity"isn't dying; today it simply "violates" you with perfume on, or evenworse, via the invisible currents of binary transactions. The film goesinto dark, interesting territory during its second half, butD'Arienzo's script isn't smart enough to do anything with the material.It's "Knocked Up" for the indie crowd.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

pbayle3 2013-05-03 19:55:46

More Rom than Com

This movie is so off Hollywood that most stores don't carry it. Isought it out because it gives a rare starring role to Patrick Wilson,a talented and amazingly handsome character actor. He has been my idolsince I saw his co-star turn in Little Children, and if you like himyou will want to check him out. Even with his looks muted by bad hairand a ridiculous goatee, he is a pleasure to watch. Barry Munday worksbetter as a romance than a comedy, and better as a character study thaneither. Munday is a recognizable caricature of American men as seen bya resentful feminist like his co-protagonist Ginger Farley (JudyGreer). Much of the movie is amusing, but it is rarely LOL funny.Munday starts out the film as an unambitious schlub whose only genuineinterest is chasing skirts. The father of one of his amours follows himinto a theater and smashes his testicles with a trumpet, so that theyhave to be removed. Just as he recovers, Ginger, one of his lasthookups, claims to be pregnant with his child. At first coldlycontemptuous of Barry, she gradually warms to him, even as he grows tobecome a loving husband and father. Aware that he can have no otherchildren, Barry uneasily bypasses several hints that he is not the realfather. The first time I saw this, I was disappointed that Barry seemsto react to his "accident" as if he lost an IRS refund check. Butinstead of becoming angry, Munday even more uncentered than he wasbefore and uses different approaches to acting like an adult. Towardthe end, as Barry and Ginger come to a mutually supportiverelationship, he literally finds his voice and his face just glows. Themovie is not entirely clear where Barry and Ginger wind up, however. Itis clear that Ginger and Barry come to love one another. But theirscene in bed ends in an unsatisfactory way, she doesn't marry him, andshe doesn't give the daughter his name, even though he badly wants herto. At the end, we are told rather than shown that Barry, Ginger, andtheir respective families are happy. Greer appropriately repellent atthe outset and handles her transformation convincingly. The supportingcast does well, especially Jean Smart as Barry's mother.

2013-05-03 10:29:58

Pretty great

This movie cracked me up. I would recommend it to anyone with a good sense of humor. It's definitely a good story :)

2013-05-01 12:14:01

Fun

Quirky without being pretentious. Solid script well acted. Will watch this again. Eight more words now four three two one

TxMike 2013-04-30 22:19:59

Can you keep your manhood after you lose the family jewels?

I sought out this movie for one reason, it has Marc Tubert in a briefrole as a maternity doctor. I met Marc last month as we walked thefairways of the Texas A&M golf course, watching his daughter and otherUniversity of Arkansas golfers contend for the NCAA championships. Heis a very nice guy, and after meeting him there, it was fun to see himin a movie role! I like Patrick Wilson, he is a very talented singer and an actor ableto tackle a variety of roles. Here he is simpleton and slacker BarryMunday, seemingly spending all of his waking energy minimizing theamount of work he actually does, while chasing "tail" at everyopportunity. One fateful day he meets a randy young lady, well actuallya teenage girl, and they end up in the movie theater together. When thegirl's father shows up, with a trumpet in his hand, and assaults Barryto protect his daughter.Barry wakes up in the clinic, not certain at all what happened to him.He soon is told that he lost his testicles, both of them were damagedduring the attack and could not be saved.Barry is coping as well as he can in succeeding days, when he gets wordthat Judy Greer as Ginger Farley is pregnant, and Barry is the father.He asks "how sure are you that I am the father?" She is sure, she was avirgin before she met him, and he is the only one she had been with.Wilson and Greer are remarkably good in this different kind of romanticcomedy. This premise could have gone into the slapstick gutter veryquickly, but it didn't because of an intelligent script. For the firsttime in his adult life Barry had something to care about, and for thefirst time in her adult life Ginger found someone who seemed togenuinely care about her.We enjoyed it.SPOILERS: Barry and Ginger grow on each other, he is there forchildbirth, it appears that they are becoming a close-knit family astheir child begins to grow up.

d_art 2013-04-18 11:30:17

'Barry Munday' is a surprisingly poignant and introspective comedy

In this comedy directed by Chris D'Arienzo based on the novel Life is aStrange Place by Frank Turner Hollon, Patrick Wilson plays BarryMunday, a suburban wanna-be ladies man, who makes up in the hospitalwith both of his testicles gone after being attacked in a movie theaterfor hitting on the wrong girl. To make matters worse, a paternitylawsuit is filed by a woman he can't remember having sex with.Realizing this being his last chance to ever be a father, Barry decidesto take on the responsibility on being a good father.My initial impression of the concept of this film was that this filmcould either be a feminist revenge fantasy or a raunchy comedy.Thankfully, this film was neither of those, but turned out to be asurprisingly poignant little comedy, with a honest, introspective lookat what being a man entails beyond having the body parts, if you will.Given it's a comedy, there were many predictable directions this filmcould have taken at the expense of Patrick Wilson's character, Barry.Surprisingly, the film avoids the obvious and portrays Barry in asympathetic and real way. Barry starts off as an irresponsible loafer,whose main interest involve bedding women, who soon after loses hismost prized asset and what he feels makes him a man. He goes through aslump until he finds out that someone may actually be carrying hischild (from a previous fling he had no recollection of). In a sense, herealizes being a father may be the only thing left that connects him tohis manhood.Barry meets the mother of the child, Ginger Farley (Judy Greer), whoisn't particularly a looker, to put it nicely. Her parents, Mr. andMrs. Farley, as played by Cybill Shepherd and Malcolm McDowell, seem toagree that Ginger hadn't quite lived up to their expectations, inbeauty and otherwise, unlike their model daughter, Jennifer (ChloëSevigny). There's noticeably a bit of a sibling rivalry between Gingerand Jennifer. As we get to know the characters, we see personal baggagebehind both Ginger and Barry which perhaps contributed much in how theyviewed themselves and their lifestyle. With Ginger full of bitternessand resentment toward Barry, the relationship between Barry and Gingeris often awkward and comic as Barry is honestly trying to know herbetter for the first time. AdvertisementPatrick Wilson (Watchmen) is close to perfect in the role of Barry,where he deftly milks the comic aspects of his shallow character aswell as his eventual change to a deeper, sympathetic, and more seriousside. Judy Greer plays the awkward Ginger Farley with caustic wit andconsistency. Cybill Shepherd and Malcolm McDowell in their supportingroles as Ginger's parents, the Farleys, turn in expectedly seasonedperformances. Bill Dee Williams (do I even have to mention EmpireStrikes Back?) is his usual charming self as Barry's Delorean-drivingboss, who happens to be close to the Farleys. Jean Smart is great asthe blunt, yet sharp-minded, Carol Munday, Barry's mother.This independent film marks Chris D' Arienzo's directorial debut and itis a strong one. The comedy feels natural because it's fairly close tolife for the most part. The emotions of the characters feel genuine. Itis unexpectedly touching. Patrick Wilson does great work in his role asthe titular character. It's not what I would call a laugh-a-minutecomedy, but a deeper, thoughtful film that happens to have muchcomedy—usually the type of films I gravitate toward. This film left mewith some thoughts long afterwards, which says a lot about a comedy,let alone any film. For more of my movie reviews, you can also follow me athttp://twitter.com/d_art

Saad Khan 2013-04-17 21:42:41

well it's an Awful Awful and Awful movie. Who knew Patrick Wilson can do a movie like that!

BARRY MUNDAY – TRASH IT ( F ) Barry Munday, well it's an Awful Awfuland Awful movie. I wasted my time on this movie because I thought ithas Patrick Wilson and he doesn't seem like a guy who does terriblemovies but I was wrong. The movie and premises looked funny in thepromos "a guy who lost his tactical/balls and then he gets the newsthat his one night stand is making him a father so, now he tries tofulfill his fatherly duties". The story looks fresh on paper but it'sterrible on screen; I had to forward almost the entire movie. PatrickWilson was over the top & weird. Judy Greer was incredibly annoying anddreadful. I think it's the entire director's fault that made hercharacter as annoying as he could have made. Maybe he was thinking itscomedy and it works but lets be honest it DOES NOT!!

collipal-1 2013-04-13 13:41:08

A quite boring romantic comedy

With the film The Accidental Husband, I thought I had found the worstpossible premise for a romantic comedy (a hacker legally marries twopeople who hate each other); then, I saw The Switch in order to provethat it was possible to fall even lower (a man exchanges his spermwith...ah, forget about it). And more recently, I watched the filmBarry Munday in order to remind us that there is simply no limit forthe presence of bad ideas in Hollywood. Needless to say, I found BarryMunday very boring and a waste of time.There was only one reason why I decided to watch Barry Munday: thegreat Judy Greer. I have been a fan of this actress' for a long time(since I saw her in the film Jawbreaker), and I have been waiting foryears to see her huge talent recognized. Unfortunately, she seemstypecast in supporting roles of "best friend" or "talkative secretary",even though she still manages to bring solid works in those minorroles. Her performance in Barry Munday is also competent, and it iswhat saves this film from reaching deplorable levels.For the rest, Barry Munday is a weak, tedious and unfunny romanticcomedy, and I cannot recommend it, despite Greer's performance.

Boloxxxi 2013-04-13 04:21:44

Every man's worst nightmare: He wakes up without his "loved ones" ---er, his b4lls.

Womanizer becomes tamed when he loses his balls (literally, folks) andlearns he is to be a father from a one-night-stand he'd forgottenabout. The movie starts out showing what Barry Munday was like before hebecame Barry "No Balls" Munday. He was a slacker who goofed off at workand made passes at the women who worked there. And when not at work, hecontinued this behavior on his own time. Eventually, his tom cat wayscatch up to him (early in the movie) when his nuts are crushed by atrumpet wielded by an angry father in a movie theater. After mourninghis balls for a short period, he later learns he is to be a father froma brief encounter earlier. He becomes a changed man; responsible,sensitive, kind; a loving, attentive father-to-be. This movie is "unspoilable". I am ABSOLUTELY confident of this sinceit's already spoiled by an unfunny script. I guarantee you that if youlook out your window for an hour and a half, or so, you will seesomething as interesting if not more so FREE OF CHARGE. Listed as acomedy, it's more something that "intends to be" or "tries to be"because it's NOT funny. The most it will do for you is possibly makeyou crack a smile in one or two places; that's it. I had no problemwith the cast. They are a likable enough bunch. It's the story --as itusually is when a movie fails to deliver-- that sucks. Love, Boloxxxi.

gavin6942 2013-04-07 13:51:50

A Different Kind of Comedy

Barry Munday (Patrick Wilson) wakes up after being attacked to realizethat he's missing his family jewels. To make matters worse, he learnshe's facing a paternity lawsuit filed by a woman he can't rememberhaving sex with.First of all, what is up with the homely Judy Greer? You get Greer foryour film, and then you make her look dumpy? Big mistake! And you haveChloe Sevigny but do not make her the lead actress? Bigger mistake!(One scene totally makes up for this grievous error, however.) And then we have additional casting choices that are excellent, such asMalcolm McDowell and the criminally-underutilized Billy Dee Williams. Alot of good comedy relies on good casting... actors who know how todeliver a line, improvise, and ad lib if necessary. I think they nailedit here... the real hero of this film is the casting director.

2013-04-07 01:38:11

he had to lose em to find em

idiot guy grows up. really nice story, very believable emotions despite the unrealistic premise. a couple of laughs, but mostly this is not a funny movie so much as an oddly tender movie. i enjoyed it.

michael c 2013-04-05 15:36:05

?

This was the stupidest movie i have ever seen! it was so stupid and cheesy!NEVER SEE THIS MOVIE!! EVER!! There was absulutly no point to this movie! DONT SEE IT!! TRUST ME!!!

2013-04-05 05:50:38

Good Indy Watch

Patric Wilson does a fine job as Barry Munday who works in an insurance office and whose life revolves around the sexual conquest of women. His conquests lead to his losing his testicles in an attack by an angry father. Shortly thereafter he finds out that, just prior to the testicle incident, he fathered a child with a woman he doesn't even remember. He now wants to step up and do the right thing, and it changes his life and the lives of others around him.This is a good-hearted Indy flick. Some have mentioned that it's a chick flick and I don't know that I agree. More time is spent with Barry than any of the female characters and it's mostly his transformation we witness. Though it is nice to see Judy Greer's Ginger come around, it's something that happens only in the final stage of the movie.This is an Indy movie with a somewhat limited budget but it seems most of the money went into the cast. Jean Smart, Chloe Sevigny, Cybill Shepherd, Shea Whigham, Malcolm McDowell and others help move this puppy along. I wish they'd used a few of those dollars to punch up a couple of the sets but that's a minor quibble. I would put this in the same zip code as, say, "Juno" or "Little Miss Sunshine" but it really isn't quite as good. Where this lacks is in the characterizations. Though the Barry and Ginger characters are written very well, there is a significant drop off after that. Cybill Shepherd and Malcolm MacDowell have surprisingly little to do. Even the Chloe Sevigny character is a bit of a mystery. What is it she's supposed to be doing here other than supplying a counterpart to to her nerdy sister? She adds little to the proceedings. That aside, this is still a decent watch. At a crisp 95 minutes you probably won't be checking your watch. It's a decent story supported by a few very good performances. If you're looking for something off the beaten path, this is a good bet.

Matt_Layden 2013-04-04 01:24:33

Surprisingly Delightful.

After a horrible incident at a movie theatre, Barry Munday wakes up ina hospital without his testicles. To make matters worse, a lawyerinforms him that a woman claims he is the father of her unborn child.The concept of the film makes it seem like it's going to be a lot morecruder than it actually is. Barry Munday turns out to be a rathermature film that has immature bits of comedy, which makes it come of asa sweet film with real issues it wants to discuss. Munday looses whatmany think is a man's manhood, but in reality, it took him losing histesticles to truly become a man. Based on the book Life is a StrangePlace, Barry Munday is surprisingly delightful. Patrick Wilson is perfectly cast as Munday, he nails the character in arole that demands him to be a womanizer, dumb, sweet, innocent andlikable. Wilson gives us these little moments where the character willdo something, when he isn't the main focus of the scene and it addsmore depth to an already well written character. Judy Greer playsGinger as the family outsider who is difficult to deal with. She comesoff a a mature 12 year old. Her parents are played by seasoned actorsCybill Shepherd and Malcolm McDowell, both small roles but they doleave an impression. Jean Smart is the more memorable parent, she playsCarol Munday, Barry's mother. Do I even need to mention LandoCalrissian and the fact that he drives a DeLorean? There are moments are pure hilarity, like when Munday accidentallycalls out his child's name during sex, but there are moments of charmand delight, like the expression on his face when the child is born.His eagerness to be a part of the child's life is admirable, he's lostthe one thing that will give him a child and now he discovers that heis possibly the father of one? That's enough of a sign for him to wantto be a father that he accepts it without having a paternity test. Butthen the question arises, is he really the father? Barry Munday is not a flat out comedy, it's more character driven.Munday, played excellently by Wilson, is a character that sells thefilm. If you can't connect to him, the movie might falls apart for you.I thought Wilson did an excellent job in this role and it's myfavourite performance from him thus far.

screamingfoot 2013-04-03 17:20:23

A perfect film

Yes, I said it. Perfect. No, it's not a Hollywood blockbuster and it'snot populated with A-list actors, but it's pitch perfect and has thebest possible balance of cast and story brought to life with a subtlehand.Judy Greer is a joy to watch on screen and I looked forward to everymoment of her in this film.If you don't need action and fireworks and gun-play and are a fan ofgreat writing, acting, and great filmmaking, this is for you. I hope itmakes it into a theater near me because I'm definitely seeing it andwill be dragging some friends with me because I know they'll appreciateit.

Pudding-Patrol 2013-04-03 23:10:13

Deserves a wider audience

So, normally, a movie like Barry Munday isn't my cuppa. I've seen TheHangover and Knocked Up and all of that "good stuff", and I admit Ifind them semi-amusing (albeit forgettable), but those aren't moviesthat I watch on my own terms-- and the adverts for Barry Munday *look*like those movies. Still, Patrick Wilson, right? If Hollywood orwhatever was like a high school PE class and I was captain, and we wereall choosing teams, I would hope to pick Patrick Wilson before anyoneelse did. Like, I wouldn't pick him first or anything but I'd want himon my team. Primarily because he's just really good looking so howcould I not want to be on the same team?, but also because he'sactually a pretty reliable actor. He's got a good filmography. So Itrusted Barry Munday to be (at least) tolerable.And it was. And It was, actually, very good. I don't know where the criticism iscoming from (okay, I kind of do, but 1/10-- really?!) but this moviereally toppled my expectations for it. There's nothing bland about thismovie and I can see why it wouldn't work on a mainstream level-- but Iwas surprised to find it wasn't even given a wide theater release.The balls thing? It is something of a major plot point, but the moviedoesn't necessarily revolve around it. It happens and it gets broughtup a few times, but it never lingers there. This isn't about a dude whogets his balls pummeled by a trumpet (although it is) -- it's a comingof age tale and a romance between two awkwardly endearing people. Thehumor isn't of the gutter variety and instead relies on the characters.I knew I liked Patrick Wilson, but Judy Greer was a revelation. Herportrayal of the grump and frump Ginger Farley is unpretentious andunapologetic and ridiculously charming. I think that can be said forthe entire movie.Forget the critics. Don't miss out on this one.

non-shill 2013-04-03 08:29:12

Horrible waste of time

I'm not sure what genre this movie was supposed to fall under. Comedy?It isn't funny. Drama? Get serious.What we have is a guy who loses his testicles under ridiculouscircumstances, and seems OK with it from the start. Me, I'd be prettyupset, but hey, maybe I'm just nutty. Apparently, this is supposed tobe hilarious--a guy losing his balls--because... Well, specificallybecause it's a guy.Roughly 90% of the movie is spent with almost everyone treating themain character like total garbage, including general nastiness andincessant name-calling. Why this happens, I've no idea. Was it supposedto be funny? It's not. Why is Ginger so incredibly hostile? The twomain characters had consensual sex, and she is every bit to blame forthe situation as he is. She informs him that she's pregnant, and ratherthan blow her off, he steps up to the plate and tries being nothingshort of an excellent man and father. Yet this is met with nothing buthostility.Oh yes, she tells her family that he raped her. Comedy gold! And ofcourse, he forgoes the paternity test. Uh... WHY would he do this?Because someone he doesn't even know claims she was a virgin beforethey had a one-night stand? Sure. Very realistic.Not funny, not entertaining, and constantly annoying. There is noreason to watch this movie.