Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-17 23:54:54

c-

This review is from: Pretty Bird (DVD) well, it was a good time to give a review to this movie because I watched it last night but, ....

Tim Kidner 2013-05-17 05:07:31

A Good Idea at the Time?

Actor Paul Schneider turns his hand to directing, for this, his firstand only time. With the big star pull (at least now) of Paul Giamattiand a premise along the lines of inventing rocket belts (I thinkthey've been referred to as 'jet-packs' over here) and seen in Bondmovie(s), you'd think this would be better known.Or, at least available. I saw it on Film 4 and Radio Times onlinecouldn't be bothered to give it a rating even and provided only theskimpiest of plot outlines. But it seems to be available via Amazon asregion 1 DVD only, precluding the majority.It started out OK, when it was vaguely predictable. Some guys (three)seem to phone each other up and suddenly meet and next thing they'removing into an industrial unit to test their invention. Apart from someinteresting and nicely diverting fantasy sequences, it's a mess. Youdon't care for any of them, Giamatti shouts obscenities all the timeand Billy Crudup looks uncomfortable. My mind lost interest and beforelong concentration had melted and I wanted it to end. I don't reallyknow where the story went, if at all and the ending was vague andstupid. Apparently, there's kidnapping and betrayal when someone stealsthe only rocket belt in existence....With bursts of inappropriate opera singing as background music, onecould tell that Schneider is attempting satire and humour but that'scompletely smashed by an insensitive and heavy hand. It's no wonderthat this one-time director realised his mistake and went straight backto acting!, while Giamatti must have shuffled it out of his CV.My 2/10, rather than just one, is for some of the performances and I'msure some people would find it endearing and no doubt, amusing and allthat. But at nearly two hours it's just too long and any attempts tostay afloat whilst watching it is as likely as keeping those rocketbelts in the air for any length of time. Disappointing

criticall 2013-05-16 21:02:49

Don't invest in this venture!

I have become a big fan of Paul Giamatti of late. To be fair, he wasgreat in this as he always seems to be. All of the acting was verygood, and for some time the movie was engaging and funny, but man didit fall apart in the last 1/3 or so. It is the worst movie I have seenin some time.There were elements of humor and even suspense, but the story reallydidn't make any sense, and not in a cool quirky way either. Also theuse of Kristin Wiig for such an insignificant role is a waste of hertalent.Don't bother with this one. Try Cold Souls for Giamattites and evenWhip It for you Wiigies!

MBunge 2013-05-16 01:01:51

Crudup and Giamatti are so good, but the ending is just as bad.

I'm going to say a lot of nice things about this film. Before I dothat, unfortunately, I've got to deal with Pretty Bird's ending. That'sbecause it's really, truly, incredulously bad. This movie is likesleeping with a supermodel and then finding out she gave you crabs.It's like eating a sumptuous meal only to come to the last bite andsink your teeth into a human finger. It's like buying a 200,000 dollarsports car and then having its engine explode when you're pulling upyour driveway. Writer/director Paul Schneider did a masterful job formost of this motion picture but then it's like he lost the last 15pages of the script and then forgot those pages ever existed. Thisstory doesn't conclude. It awkwardly ceases. Pretty Bird has the sortof ending that, if you care enough about how a story wraps up, willretroactively discredit and undermine everything you watch before it.With that out of the way, I loved everything about this film exceptthose last 5 minutes. There are a couple of award worthy performancesfrom Billy Crudup and Paul Giamatti, a marvelous screenplay ofinterlocking personalities and new perspectives on stereotypes youthink you understand, imagery that matches the uncomfortably human withthe aspiring ideal and a soundtrack that's often affecting and neverannoying. Slap an even halfway decent ending on this thing and it wouldclear the high jump of cinema greatness with 6 inches to spare.Curtis Prentiss (Billy Crudup) is a handsome man with a dream to builda jet pack, which everyone in this story calls a rocket belt, andsomehow make a lot of money with it. He enlists out of work aerospaceengineer Rick Honeycutt (Paul Giamatti) to build it, with the wholeoperation funded by Curtis' old friend Kenny (David Hornsby). NowKenny, though ably performed, is the same been there, done thatcloseted homosexual character that was cliché back in 1998. Curtis andRick, though, are marvelously realized human beings of depth anddimension. Curtis' self-confidence and charm are not just compensationfor his insecurity and self-loathing, they're a desperate attempt tocover for the fact that he doesn't connect with other people on anemotional level. The only person Rick seems emotionally connected to ishis wife and you get the sense he doesn't know how that ever happened.Rick's a smart man who never bothered to learn how to interact withothers and, before Curtis comes along, finds himself unemployed withnothing to show for all his brain power. Curtis is a man of ambitionwho drives a car that's far too old for any ambitious fellow.And writer/director Schneider doesn't just create two compellingcharacters. He also does interesting things with them. There are twoscenes in particular that are exceptional. One sees Curtis trying totalk a potential investor into putting his money into their rocket beltcompany. Curtis is the salesman/marketing guy who's usually the subjectof derision in fiction and real life, but Schneider almost forces theaudience to look at Curtis trying to persuade a disinterested moroninto giving him money Curtis absolutely has to have. It's a job thatrequires Curtis to embrace humiliation and servility and you can't helpbut respect his willingness to take on the burden in order to play hisrole in rocket belt enterprise. The other scene is of Rick making loveto his wife, smartly played by Elizabeth Marvel. They're going at itdoggie style on their bed and at first, it appears like this is goingto be the joyless coupling of two middle aged people in a joylessunion. Rick even leans over to get a drink of water in mid fornication.But then Rick and his wife start to talk to each other. Not about sexbut about the phone call Rick got from Curtis sounding him out aboutthe rocket belt idea. As they talk you can see them both getting moreand more into the sex as it blends together with the conversation as anexpression of the bond between them. They're not fictional constructshaving a great movie screw. They're a 20 year married couple having apretty good Tuesday night boink. There's a bunch of moments like thatthroughout Pretty Bird that flesh out the characters withoutexcessively complicating their nature.On the way to its fershluggina finish, this is a delightful ride alongthe merry go round of three people caught up in a crazy dream. As longas you can put up with the disappointment at the end, you shoulddefinitely give this movie a look.

Kim 2013-05-15 13:04:37

DUD

Absolutely no direction. Absolutely nothing through the entire movie to hold any interest. Boring. I kept expecting SOMETHING to happen, but nothing ever did. Total waste of even one dollar. Paul Giamatti couldn't even save the acting. I thought that at least if he was in it, it couldn't be that bad. I was disappointed again. The discription of the movie on Redbox said that it was based on a true story. The movie begins by saying that it is fictional. The rating on Redbox was a "B", which is why I gave it a shot, but after viewing it, I have absolutely no idea who would give this movie higher than a D-. For the record, I am not usually a harsh critic of movies.. this one was just "that bad".

Rob 2013-05-15 04:02:00

Why Did They Even Make This Movie?!

Ok, the acting is the only decent part of the movie but everything else just sucks. The Story is aweful and the ending worse. Worst movie I have ever seen, hence the first time I have ever written a review.

Jim Berry 2013-05-09 01:45:08

Don't waste your time

One of the worst movies I've ever seen. The acting is passable, but can't compensate for a storyline with virtually no plot. There isn't an ending in the usual sense; the movie just stops in mid-scene. The gratuitous sex scene contributes nothing to the story line, and is so awful and unappealing that I would probably never even try sex if that was the only impression I had of it. Truly awful!

2013-05-08 14:26:09

No one will doubt what you do...

Ah, first reviewer. That has only happened to me twice before over the course of 120 film critiques (and counting).Pity it had to be this film.I missed this in its maiden year (2008), though I can't be sure it was released in theaters. I have to make an educated guess and say it was theatrically released. It would have been declared the biggest box office rip-off of all time...but I never heard that either. I recall seeing on the news a man flying a jetpack over the Swiss Alps. It was real, and it was cool. That popped into my mind as I suffered this film.This film set in the present day purports to be a story about the building and testing of a jetpack. It even begins with a written 'history', describing Bell Labs' perfection of a working prototype and the military's rejection of it. It then goes on to say that hasn't stopped inventors from working on jetpacks (which they keep calling a "belt").PRETTY BIRD proclaims itself to be based on true events. It then goes on to be the dumbest thing I have ever seen. The Three Stooges got nothin' on this revolting trio of Paul Giamatti (I expected him to know better--he starred and produced), Billy Crudup, and a poor, attractive dope called David Hornsby (AVPR: ALIENS VS. PREDATOR - REQUIEM, his only other film role).Crudup plays Curtiss, the ever-irritating conman/entrepreneur who always seems to get people to do exactly what he wants. Now I knew better than to expect anything from Crudup except a slight migraine, but I couldn't miss a Paul Giamatti movie. I love him, no matter what the critics say.Giamatti is Rick, the pissed-off engineer who has crashed after a 20-year career as a "rocket scientist". After securing money and a devoted gay love-beam from his pal Kenny (David Hornsby), Curtiss enlists Rick to build a jetpack. It's a start-up company that will, in future, make jetpacks...presumably.This film is so dumb that I can't do anything except tell what transpires. Rick successfully builds a working jetpack, they test it, Kenny loses his shirt and his mattress business, and Curtiss ends up stealing the jetpack. Rick goes nuts, first trying to sue Curtiss then planning to shoot him. Eventually he has Curtiss kidnapped, but Curtiss, who walks away from this situation, NEVER tells anyone what he did with the pack or why he did it. There seems to be some indication that Curtiss, who is obviously the most mentally disturbed of the three, simply wanted the jetpack invented so he could fly.It is stupid. It is a waste of time and treasure. It is a disgraceful production for Giamatti, his first time out producing a real movie. If you can call this "real". It has its moments and they are good; the acting is solid and Giamatti is quite brilliant. That is what is most angering: the waste. This film is NOT: a comedy in any sense; a mystery; a thriller; a murder tale; a conspiracy film; hell, it's only a film because, well, it's on film!I'd suggest getting ROCKET MAN, PRIMER or THE BOOK OF ELI, which have in common with PRETTY BIRD a certain cinematic desolation, a minimalism that should not be tried too often. PRETTY BIRD should not have been tried at all. (Incidentally, PRETTY BIRD brought to mind PRIMER because there are the creators of a machine, the machine is hijacked, there is a storage unit invovled, and that is about it.)The two stars are for Giamatti and for him alone...though he really should have known better.

Richard_vmt 2013-04-24 21:22:18

Quirky Comedy

This is another quirky independent film, this one about a pair ofbusiness-oriented dreamers who are all attitude and no substance. Thegreat idea is a working rocket belt, something neither of them knowanything about. What they have instead is an abundance of businessmodels, motivational pep talks and winning slogans.For the actual rocket belt they succeed in hiring an actual unemployedrocket scientist who begins to develop a prototype. Much of the humor is Gogolesque, treading a fine line between absurdityand apparent success. They are successful in raising money fromdreamers like themselves. There is a broad satirical implication that"the money people" are a class apart requiring to be spoon fed acertain formula unrelated to business realities. But the project issatisfyingly rejected by the big-time investors, summarily dismissingit as needing "more science" (itself a business euphemism). The film is thus very amusing from the outset and I was prepared formore amusing developments. But the story takes some unfunny turns. Therocket belt becomes the focus of in-fighting which is carried almost tothe point of bloodshed. This is probably because it is based on a truestory, but that does nothing for poetic justice.This film turns into one focusing on male bonding or the lack of it.The two original entrepreneurs are best friends with a bond thatsupersedes anything, including reason. The third partner, the rocketscientist, engages with the two to gain recognition, but in the longrun the original promoter is implacable. At issue is the prototyperocket belt itself which he has hidden. You aren't supposed to ask theseemingly reasonable question why the scientist, who is the only onewho knows how the thing works, doesn't just build a secondprototype--maybe this time one capable of better than 30 seconds flighttime.So much is this an all-male film that what might otherwise have been aromance developing between the original promoter and Kirsten Wiig'scharacter is simply dropped, as if for lack of interest. It all adds up to a flick which starts out very funny and is worthwatching to the end, but with a little let-down so far as humor isconcerned.

2013-04-24 17:29:06

"No one will doubt what you do..."

PRETTY BIRD (prod. Paul Giamatti, 2008) Ah, first reviewer. That has only happened to me twice before over the course of 120 film critiques (and counting). Pity it had to be this film.I missed this in its maiden year, though I can't be sure it was released in theaters. I have to make an educated guess and say it was theatrically released. It would have been declared the biggest box office rip-off of all time if anybody had seen it. I recall seeing on the news a man flying a jetpack over the Swiss Alps. It was real, and it was cool. That popped into my mind as I suffered this film.This film set in the present day purports to be a story about the building and testing of a jetpack. It even begins with a written 'history', describing Bell Labs' perfection of a working prototype and the military's rejection of it. It then goes on to say that hasn't stopped inventors from working on jetpacks (which they keep calling a "belt").PRETTY BIRD proclaims itself to be based on true events. It then goes on to be the dumbest thing I have ever seen. The Three Stooges got nothin' on this revolting trio of Paul Giamatti (I expected him to know better since he starred and produced), Billy Crudup, and a poor, attractive dope called David Hornsby (Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, his only other film role).Crudup plays Curtiss, the ever-irritating conman/entrepreneur who always seems to get people to do exactly what he wants. Now I knew better than to expect anything from Crudup except a slight migraine, but I couldn't miss a Paul Giamatti movie. I love him, no matter what the critics say.Giamatti is Rick, the perpetually pissed-off engineer who has tired of a 20-year career as a "rocket scientist". After securing money and a devoted gay love-beam from his pal Kenny (David Hornsby), Curtiss enlists Rick to build a jetpack. It's a start-up company that will, in future, make jetpacks ... presumably.This film is so dumb that I can't do anything except tell what transpires. Rick successfully builds a working jetpack, they test it, Kenny loses his shirt and his mattress business, and Curtiss ends up stealing the jetpack. Rick goes nuts, first trying to sue Curtiss then planning to shoot him.Eventually he has Curtiss kidnapped, but Curtiss, who walks away from this situation, NEVER tells anyone what he did with the pack or why he did it. There seems to be some indication that Curtiss, who is obviously the most mentally disturbed of the three, simply wanted the jetpack invented so he could fly.It is stupid. It is a waste of time and treasure. It is a disgraceful production for Giamatti, his first time out producing a real movie. If you can call this "real". It has its moments and they are good; the acting is solid and Giamatti is quite brilliant. That is what is most angering: the waste. This film is NOT: a comedy in any sense; a mystery; a thriller; a murder tale; a conspiracy film; hell, it's only a film because, well, it's on film!I'd suggest getting Rocketman, Primer or the spectacular The Book of Eli, which have in common with PRETTY BIRD a certain cinematic desolation, a minimalism that should not be tried too often. PRETTY BIRD should not have been tried at all. PRETTY BIRD brought to mind PRIMER because it shares a plot about the creators of a machine, the machine being hijacked, a storage unit involved ... and that is about it.The three stars are for Giamatti, for his efforts here, and for him alone, though he really should have done better.

Robert Arley 2013-04-21 13:49:17

Staggering hole in comic possibilities

First I'd ever heard of this film was yesterday when I saw its billingin the British Radio Times magazine for the UK Film4 channel lastnight. I was intrigued because of the subject matter which is close tomy heart. (I have attempted a screenplay covering some similar ground)I was delighted and highly impressed as the movie commenced. Thecharacters and narrative line were compelling. Where would this go? Iwondered. Halfway through, despite conflicts and challenges, the grumpyengineer (Paul Giamatti) manages to create a prototype device. Cut todeserted hillside. The three hopeful entrepreneurs are staring at afourth character we have not met before who is wearing the rocket beltand is about to field test it. Wow. Is this would-be pilot nervous?Fearful? Who knows. Was there a discussion between the three principalsas to who would have the honour or terror of being first to try theflying machine? Nope. The test pilot takes it up and flies itsuccessfully, if briefly, then lands again in one piece, and we move on(still never hearing from the flyer). Abruptly the delight andcredibility of this story disappeared. Three great central characterswho are then sadly left floating in the air by giant holes in the logicof the plot. Highly watchable. Sorry to focus on a spoiler, but itseems the key to what went wrong with a wonderful proposition.

Tony 2013-04-21 02:59:40

If Wile E Coyote Formed a Rocket Belt Corporation

First, a general impression the film was mucked around with in editing.Maybe it was a scripting problem. I've seen this in the remake of "TheDay the Earth Stood Still" which was pared down and pared down.Unfortunately it cut deeply into the bone. Same thing for the "Solaris"remake.Kristen Wiig disappears. Her arc never really starts and there is noclosure.The abrupt ending leads to an unsatisfied feeling.Some bad guys are introduced but never fleshed and only partiallyexplained. One has a single scene and is never heard from again.Though marketed as a comedy (and it initially veers that way), itbecomes deadly serious. The tonal shift jars and detracts.And I just wanted more.That said, I enjoyed the film. Giammati is always a joy as is Cruddup.At the root it's a character study: the volatile, paranoid and violentRocket Scientist Giammati has a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas;Cruddup's overcompensating, delusional, near con man/President reeks offailure; Kenny, the unquestioning money man, is the poster child forineffectual and weak.These three misfits conspire to create a rocket belt introduced byCruddup who spools the scene from "Thunderball" in which Bond escapesvia Bell Jet Pack.Off and running on Kenny's money, the trio do create the belt. After asuccessful test, paranoia and distrust creeps into their relationship.The dream Cruddup sold the others disappears - figuratively andliterally.Worth a look. Certainly better than the average brain dead fare, butmay disappoint as it's a glimpse of how brilliant it could have been. Anear miss of a near miss.Read the source book instead.

tschetter89 2013-04-17 14:32:12

poop

absolutly poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop but paul giamantis good

Tony 2013-04-17 01:00:43

If Wile E Coyote Formed a Rocket Belt Corporation

First, a general impression the film was mucked around with in editing.Maybe it was a scripting problem. I've saw this in the remake of "TheDay the Earth Stood Still" which was pared down and pared down.Unfortunately it cut deeply into the bone. Same thing for the "Solaris"remake.Kristen Wiig disappears. Her arc never really starts and there is noclosure.The abrupt ending leads to an unsatisfied feeling.Some bad guys are introduced but never fleshed and only partiallyexplained. One has a single scene and is never heard from again.Though marketed as a comedy (and it initially veers that way), itbecomes deadly serious. The tonal shift jars and detracts.And I just wanted more.That said, I enjoyed the film. Giammati is always a joy as is Cruddup.At the root it's a character study: the volatile, paranoid and violentRocket Scientist Giammati has a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas;Cruddup's overcompensating, delusional, near con man/President reeks offailure; Kenny, the unquestioning money man, is the poster child forineffectual and weak.These three misfits conspire to create a rocket belt introduced byCruddup who spools the scene from "Thunderball" in which Bond escapesvia Bell Jet Pack.Off and running on Kenny's money, the trio do create the belt. After asuccessful test, paranoia and distrust creeps into their relationship.The dream Cruddup sold the others disappears - figuratively andliterally.Worth a look. Certainly better than the average brain dead fare, butmay disappoint as it's a glimpse of how brilliant it could have been. Anear miss of a near miss.Read the source book instead.

airwalker13 2013-04-16 20:05:20

Pretty Bird is a BLAST!

I saw a few unreleased scenes and stills from this movie(don't ask how).The acting is good,so is the plot. Paul Giamatti plays his part excellently as usual. Add to that some fantastic REAL stuntwork and you got a good flick. What's the holdup on the release? I'd buy a ticket!

TxMike 2013-04-16 07:22:09

Inspired by real 'rocket science' events, the ending left me unsatisfied.

The foreword script in the intro tells us that rocket belts were real,they worked, but the projects were dropped years ago. But now they arethe subject of this movie.Billy Crudup is a dreamer, Curtis Prentiss, who wants badly to besuccessful. So he seizes on the idea to develop and market a modernrocket belt, one that a person can strap on and fly. But he needs moneyand he needs a rocket scientist who can do the invention. Crudup is oneof the better actors that too few know about, and he is superb here.Enter Paul Giamatti as Rick Honeycutt, recently unemployed but whoworked for 20 years in the aerospace business. He is a genuine rocketscientist. But he has a very rough manner, with everyone, and soonforgets that he is the hired help, and wants to claim his invention forhimself. (Be cautioned, this character uses a lot of very filthylanguage, it is in character, but some may object.) The 3rd key character is David Hornsby as Kenny, who is running apretty successful retail mattress business. Curtis happens to beKenny's best friend and when Kenny says he has an idea but needsworking space and a financial infusion, Kenny says "count me in" evenwithout knowing what the project is.So Rick sets up a lab in the vacant part of Kenny's building, whileCurtis names himself president of the company and sets about trying tosell the idea of his project to venture capitalists. It is a rough selland Curtis always seems out of his league.Soon friction develops and Curtis and Rick compete for leadership andthe possession of the working model of the rocket belt.It is a fun and quirky movie, which in general I enjoy, but the endingleft me hungry for some resolution. Crudup and Giamatti are bothexcellent in their roles.

2013-04-15 04:34:16

"No one will doubt what you do..."

PRETTY BIRD (prod. Paul Giamatti, 2008) Ah, first reviewer. That has only happened to me twice before over the course of 120 film critiques (and counting). Pity it had to be this film.I missed this in its maiden year, though I can't be sure it was released in theaters. I have to make an educated guess and say it was theatrically released. It would have been declared the biggest box office rip-off of all time if anybody had seen it. I recall seeing on the news a man flying a jetpack over the Swiss Alps. It was real, and it was cool. That popped into my mind as I suffered this film.This film set in the present day purports to be a story about the building and testing of a jetpack. It even begins with a written 'history', describing Bell Labs' perfection of a working prototype and the military's rejection of it. It then goes on to say that hasn't stopped inventors from working on jetpacks (which they keep calling a "belt").PRETTY BIRD proclaims itself to be based on true events. It then goes on to be the dumbest thing I have ever seen. The Three Stooges got nothin' on this revolting trio of Paul Giamatti (I expected him to know better since he starred and produced), Billy Crudup, and a poor, attractive dope called David Hornsby (Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, his only other film role).Crudup plays Curtiss, the ever-irritating conman/entrepreneur who always seems to get people to do exactly what he wants. Now I knew better than to expect anything from Crudup except a slight migraine, but I couldn't miss a Paul Giamatti movie. I love him, no matter what the critics say.Giamatti is Rick, the perpetually pissed-off engineer who has tired of a 20-year career as a "rocket scientist". After securing money and a devoted gay love-beam from his pal Kenny (David Hornsby), Curtiss enlists Rick to build a jetpack. It's a start-up company that will, in future, make jetpacks ... presumably.This film is so dumb that I can't do anything except tell what transpires. Rick successfully builds a working jetpack, they test it, Kenny loses his shirt and his mattress business, and Curtiss ends up stealing the jetpack. Rick goes nuts, first trying to sue Curtiss then planning to shoot him.Eventually he has Curtiss kidnapped, but Curtiss, who walks away from this situation, NEVER tells anyone what he did with the pack or why he did it. There seems to be some indication that Curtiss, who is obviously the most mentally disturbed of the three, simply wanted the jetpack invented so he could fly.It is stupid. It is a waste of time and treasure. It is a disgraceful production for Giamatti, his first time out producing a real movie. If you can call this "real". It has its moments and they are good; the acting is solid and Giamatti is quite brilliant. That is what is most angering: the waste. This film is NOT: a comedy in any sense; a mystery; a thriller; a murder tale; a conspiracy film; hell, it's only a film because, well, it's on film!I'd suggest getting Rocketman, Primer or the spectacular The Book of Eli, which have in common with PRETTY BIRD a certain cinematic desolation, a minimalism that should not be tried too often. PRETTY BIRD should not have been tried at all. PRETTY BIRD brought to mind PRIMER because it shares a plot about the creators of a machine, the machine being hijacked, a storage unit involved ... and that is about it.The three stars are for Giamatti, for his efforts here, and for him alone, though he really should have done better.A fan of the film posts to me that I ought to "chillax", which I assume means a combination of "chill" and "relax". That says it all about the poster of the message, but I think if a reviewer decides to "chillax", the prospective buyer might not know what he's buying.How about you chillax, write your own review and don't read my reviews!

napierslogs 2013-04-14 17:41:48

"Pretty Bird" doesn't have much of a story but it has great characters

"Pretty Bird" is about entrepeneuring a 'rocket belt', which is a realinvention. It centers on Curtis Prentiss (Billy Crudup) who at onepoint in the film says "It's not just a rocket belt, it's an attitude."That says exactly what this film is, it's not about a rocket belt, it'sabout the attitude of its characters.Opening and closing with Billy Crudup's Curtis, he brings together Rick(Paul Giamatti) and Kenny (David Hornsby) as partners in his rocketbelt innovation company. It's not about what they do, but who they are.They are all deeply troubled men. The characteristics that we see inCrudup's and Giamatti's characters completely drive this film; they areflawed and we can almost put our finger on all of their insecuritiesand needs but there is more ticking beneath the surface. Withoutsounding like a love song to Billy Crudup, I have rarely seen acharacter brought to life the way Curtis was. In one word, phenomenal.In three words, breathtaking, heartbreaking, pioneering.Unfortunately for all of its brilliant character work, the filmstumbled with its story line. At times it was a little slow moving andas it neared the finish line it started meandering in other directions.It does seem pretty disjointed but it also just wanted to build up itscharacters even more.Listed as a dark comedy, that is probably accurate. A very intelligentfilm with its humour, and its many dramatic elements makes it seemdark. Kristen Wiig, as usual for her, comes away with one of the mostmemorable, funny scenes in the movie.Its ending can seem unsatisfying, but don't see "Pretty Bird" for itsstory line, see it for its characters, its smart humour, and BillyCrudup in the role of a lifetime.

2013-03-29 17:16:55

Dark, funny Paul G

I can see why some may have gave this movie low marks. But it is undeniably funny. It is dark with classic Paul G elements. I usually watch extremely serious and depressing movies. When I do watch comedies they are usually in line with Woody Allen, Coen brothers, Curb your enthusiasm. If you like comedies in that sense, I think you will enjoy this one. It is not American Splender or Sideways Paul G, but nonetheless - enjoyable.

napierslogs 2013-03-29 07:48:36

"Pretty Bird" doesn't have much of a story but it has great characters

"Pretty Bird" is about entrepeneuring a 'rocket belt', which is a realinvention. It centers on Curtis Prentiss (Billy Crudup) who at onepoint in the film says "It's not just a rocket belt, it's an attitude."That says exactly what this film is, it's not about a rocket belt, it'sabout the attitude of its characters.Opening and closing with Billy Crudup's Curtis, he brings together Rick(Paul Giamatti) and Kenny (David Hornsby) as partners in his rocketbelt innovation company. It's not about what they do, but who they are.They are all deeply troubled men. The characteristics that we see inCrudup's and Giamatti's characters completely drive this film; they areflawed and we can almost put our finger on all of their insecuritiesand needs but there is more ticking beneath the surface. Withoutsounding like a love song to Billy Crudup, I have rarely seen acharacter brought to life the way Curtis was. In one word, phenomenal.In three words, breathtaking, heartbreaking, pioneering.Unfortunately for all of its brilliant character work, the filmstumbled with its story line. At times it was a little slow moving andas it neared the finish line it started meandering in other directions.It does seem pretty disjointed but it also just wanted to build up itscharacters even more.Listed as a dark comedy, that is probably accurate. A very intelligentfilm with its humour, and its many dramatic elements makes it seemdark. Kristen Wiig, as usual for her, comes away with one of the mostmemorable, funny scenes in the movie.Its ending can seem unsatisfying, but don't see "Pretty Bird" for itsstory line, see it for its characters, its smart humour, and BillyCrudup in the role of a lifetime.Follow my blog Napierslogs' Movie Expositions athttp://napierslogs.blogspot.com